Company GM Tony Shi details Vivo's local strategy, operating in a highly competitive market and the role of memory costs in rolling out its foldables locally.
Chinese smartphone vendor Vivo wants to be listed among the top three smartphone brands in South Africa, targeting a sweet spot position in an extremely competitive market.
Tony Shi, general manager of vivo South Africa, spoke to ITWeb recently to discuss the local business strategy and how the brand has repositioned itself to keep up with competition.
Globally, Vivo falls in the top five, in terms of smartphone market share split. The company has an 8% global market share, based on Omdiaâs preliminary research for the third quarter.
The other top global vendors â Samsung, Apple and Xiaomi â maintain the top three positions, while Oppo is at number four.
Tony Shi, general manager of Vivo South Africa.
In the second quarter, the International Data Corporationâs (IDCâs) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker showed that Vivo shipped 21.2 million smartphones globally.
South Africaâs smartphone market has historically been dominated by Samsung, Apple and Huawei, with the likes of Honor, Xiaomi and Oppo joining the ranks in recent years.
However, the market seemed to open for a new number three after Huawei was banned from using Androidâs Google Mobile Services, with some players jostling for the top three spot.
In 2019, Shenzhen-based Huawei was placed on a trade blacklist that restricted American companies from doing business with the major provider of network equipment and smartphones. The sanctions hit Huawei hard, since it relied on Google services and other essential technologies for its handsets.
According to Shi, in 2023, Vivo decided to diversify its local product strategy by including the medium and flagship range, selling on contract via the network operators.
âAfter that, our share has increased year-on-year. Based on…