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Samsung to Ramp Up Africa Smartphone Sales in 2014

Samsung to Ramp Up Africa Smartphone Sales in 2014

According to Reuters, it’s estimated that more than 100 million mobile phones were sold across the African continent in 2013. Twenty percent of them are smartphones, and according to the report, more than 10 million of these smartphones were manufactured by Samsung Electronics.

In 2014, the South Korean tech giant will look to produce half of all mobile phones purchased in Africa, doubling sales.

“Samsung this year will ship 50 percent of all the smartphones in Africa. Next year we are looking at doubling this number and the year after probably doing a substantial increase,” Samsung Electronics head Thabiet Allie said in the report, via telecoms conference.

Reuters noted that global smartphone penetration reached 17 percent at the end of 2012, however in sub-Saharan Africa, penetration figures only rose to four percent.

Samsung’s 2014 sales scheme may be a challenge to solidify, especially with smartphone market share threats and plans to place a $260 smartphone on the African market in 2014. However, according to the report, South Africa’s smartphone use is “above average” with Blackberry leading the country’s mobile market.

In August, Samsung announced that the company would partner with Blackberry, installing the BBM instant messenger on all Galaxy smartphones for sub-Saharan Africa users.

Wednesday, the Global Times reported that Samsung was named “the world’s No.1 handset seller across all continents in the third quarter.”

Selling 120.1 million mobile phones worldwide, this is the first time in company history that Samsung has received such an accolade.