Cape Town – South Korea's Samsung rules the South African smartphone market but Apple and Huawei are vying for second place, data from a cellphone comparison site reveals.
Samsung is the top desired brand in South Africa, according to data from Phonefinder, with 21.73% of locals choosing the South Korean brand for contracts on the comparison site.
“The most common starting point for cellphone queries on Phonefinder is price. 63% of queries start at price, followed by a cellphone device choice. The second most frequently chosen starting point is a cellphone choice (28%). So it is safe to say that South Africans want the phone of their choice, so long as it comes at a good price,” Phonefinder told Fin24.
Meanwhile, Apple has a marginal lead of 14.53% to Huawei’s 12.81% in the battle for second place with Sony (1.3%) and BlackBerry (0.47%) making up the top five.
READ: Here are SA's most popular smartphone, tablet brands
In terms of specific devices, Phonefinder said Samsung’s budget offering Galaxy J1 Ace made up 20% of Samsung devices in South Africa.
Desirable brand
Following Samsung is the iPhone 4S which is the most popular Apple smartphone at 27%, the Ascend P8 Lite (at 68% of Huawei demand), Sony Xperia M4 Aqua (36%) and BlackBerry Z3 (43%).
The iPhone 4S may be the oldest smartphone on the list, but Phonefinder data shows that it remains popular with South Africans.
Apple in 2015 led the South African Customer Satisfaction Index with a score of 82.7 out of a 100 maximum. Samsung scored 78.8 and Apple also topped the Net Promoter Score - the likelihood that customers will recommend a brand.
“It seems that there is a lot of demand for Apple phones, but when it comes down to it price dictates which Apple phone can be afforded. The Apple iPhone 4S may be a compromise, but at 27% of the Apple pie it is not bad going,” Phonefinder said.
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