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10:08, 05-May-2019
Africa's top mobile phone seller applies for IPO in Shanghai
Updated
11:10, 07-May-2019
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Cellphone maker Transsion filed its application for an initial public offering (IPO) on Shanghai's Science and Technology Innovation board in March.
It plans to raise 3 billion RMB (447 million U.S. dollars). The company says the money will be used to open more factories and innovation centers.
"IPO will help us in different ways," Arif Chowdhury, vice president of Transsion Holdings, told CGTN. “It'll help to invest more in the R&D and development. And it'll also help to recruit more talented people.”
The company, which has never sold a single phone in China, has Africa as its major market. Mobile phone sales accounted for over 90 percent of the company's revenue in 2018.
A man in Ghana listens to music via phone. /CGTN Photo
A man in Ghana listens to music via phone. /CGTN Photo
Launched in 2006, Transsion now has three cellphone brands: Tecno, Infinix and Itel.
In 2018, the company shipped 124 million phones worldwide and has 48.71 percent of the total market share in Africa, according to data firm International Data Corporation (IDC).
These brands offered many African consumers their first glimpse of a smartphone and impressed them with multiple functions, especially selfies.
A man takes selfie on the street in Accra, capital of Ghana. /CGTN Photo
A man takes selfie on the street in Accra, capital of Ghana. /CGTN Photo
Arif Chowdhury says to apply for an IPO on a tech board means the company is looking to invest more in innovation. “The mobile phone market is increasingly competitive and very fierce,” added Chowdhury. “Our investment will be making improvement on smart terminals, at the same time, to bring new solutions on mobile Internet services.”
The Shanghai Stock Exchange has not yet announced a final listing.