African Smartphone Shipments Hit Two-Year Low but Top Seller Maintains Volume Amid Supply Pressures
Research firm Omdia reports the slowest growth in two years for phone shipments to the continent. Supply chain costs tied to the Iran war and a memory-chip shortage have raised handset prices.
SemaforShipments of mobile phones to Africa fell to their lowest level in two years as the Iran war disrupted supply chains and raised component costs, according to research firm Omdia. Shipment tracking data showed weakening smartphone availability across the continent as of June 2026. Handsets also became more expensive for buyers in multiple markets.
Rising costs of components, supply chain constraints, and weaker consumer demand have depressed smartphone sales in much of Africa, Omdia said. These pressures produced the slowest growth in shipments to the continent in two years. Transsion, the Chinese firm that is Africa’s top smartphone seller, shipped roughly the same volume in the first quarter of 2026 as it did in the first quarter of 2025.
The company focuses on devices priced below $200, the segment that dominates sales on the continent. Omdia stated that the low-cost phone market in Africa is entering a structurally more challenging phase with thinner margins this year. Supply chain costs stem in part from a two-year shortage of memory chips that has been made worse by the Middle East crisis.
