Image: Samsung
Samsung has emerged as Africa’s top smartphone brand after bucking a sharp market downturn, with an innovative daily and weekly payment model helping to drive a surge in sales across the continent.
The technology giant ranked first in both smartphone revenue and unit sales in Africa during the second quarter of 2026, despite overall smartphone sales across the continent declining by 16.6% year on year.
Market research
According to market research firm TechInsights, Samsung’s unit sales jumped an impressive 34.8%, positioning the company for a projected full-year market share of 38.7% by volume and 34.5% by value.
According to the GSM Association (GSMA), mobile money transactions in sub-Saharan Africa totaled $1.4 trillion last year, accounting for about two-thirds of global transaction value. For some adults, mobile money is their only financial account.
The standout factor behind Samsung’s growth has been its flexible instalment programme, which allows consumers to pay for devices in daily or weekly increments rather than making a large upfront payment.
The model, designed to reflect local income patterns across many African countries, now accounts for 46% of Samsung’s smartphone revenue on the continent, excluding South Africa.
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Payment solutions
According to Samsung, the payment solution is helping to close the gap between “the phone consumers want” and “the phone they can afford”, particularly in a market where many people earn daily or weekly wages and where access to traditional financing remains limited.
Samsung’s success is particularly notable in Africa’s highly competitive and price-sensitive smartphone market, where entry-level devices dominate sales.
Instead of focusing solely on price, Samsung has positioned itself around long-term value, emphasising security, durability and software support.
A series
The company’s Galaxy A series offers up to seven years of operating system and security updates, while Samsung Knox security protection has become an important selling point in a region where mobile phones are increasingly used as digital wallets and banking platforms.
According to the South Korean company, the strategy is also driving demand for premium devices.
“Sales of Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S and Galaxy Z series smartphones rose 20% year on year as more consumers gained access to flexible financing options.”
Service centres
Beyond smartphones, Samsung has strengthened its footprint through 281 service centres across 38 African countries and expanded local engagement around the continent’s first Olympic event, the Dakar Youth Olympic Games.
As affordability, security and accessibility increasingly shape consumer decisions, Samsung’s rapid rise suggests the future of smartphone sales in Africa may be driven as much by innovative payment solutions as by the devices themselves.
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