Browsing: International Data Corporation (IDC)

• Shipping agents are not allowing cargo to Kenya as they avoid having goods getting stuck at points of entry, says a mobile importer in Nairobi.
• Kenya Revenue Authority is increasingly tightening checks at ports of entry to eliminate under declaration and concealment, which deny the country taxes.
• On average device shipment went down by about 13.5 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2022.

Kenya is hurtling into a severe shortage of smartphones as new tax measures and import regulations pile pressure on traders who have cut on shipments. Traders are projecting that the shortage of smartphones could push up the price of the gadgets by about 40 per cent.

The move follows a decision by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) to plug loopholes used by traders to under declare or conceal the value of gadgets in turn denying the government revenues.

Alice, an importer and dealer within Nairobi’s Central …

According to the global technology research and consulting firm’s newly released Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, overall shipments for the quarter totalled 52.2 million units, down from 53.1 million units in Q1 2019. Feature phones accounted for 58.3% of the market, with shipments declining 3.7% QoQ, while smartphone shipments increased 1.0% over the same period to account for 41.7% share.

“Feature phones remain an integral part of the African mobile phone market due to poor network infrastructure across large parts of the continent, particularly in rural areas, and the ease of use of these devices,” says George Mbuthia, a research analyst at IDC. “However, the transition to smartphones is continuing, albeit slowly, and the affordability of feature phones alone was not enough to stop this segment of the market declining in Q2 2019. Smartphones, on the other hand, enjoyed a recovery from the decline in shipments seen in Q1 2019.”

Nigeria …