Abstract:
Around 2018, Transsion became a popular male protagonist in the digital circle. As a company with little reputation in China, Transsion was discovered to have become the king of mobile phones in Africa, becoming the most mysterious mobile phone giant at the time.
The A-share market went public the following year and was a hit.
However, the style of Chuanyin this year is no longer the same as before.
Transsion went public in Hong Kong this year and issued H shares. It was officially listed on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on October 15.
In recent years, many companies have been listed in both places, such as Midea Group, CATL, SF Holding, etc.
It can be simply understood that the same entity opens a stock counter in Shanghai and Hong Kong, and they are facing different markets. The Shanghai counter mainly uses mainland funds, and the Hong Kong counter mainly uses international funds. Ordinary investors cannot interchange stocks on both sides at will.
So although the shares of the same company are being sold, the prices on both sides are different.
It is common that A shares are more expensive than H shares.
What is less common is that the price given to Transsion in the Hong Kong market
is only a little more than half of that of A shares...
In addition to the differences in attributes between the A-share and H-share markets, Chuanyin, the former male protagonist of Shuangwen, is now experiencing violent fluctuations.
Back in 2006, the number of mobile users in Africa soared from 16 million in 2000 to 198 million in 2006, and it was far from saturation.
Zhu Zhaojiang felt that there was something going on in this, so he resigned from Bird and founded Transsion.
His trick is simple:
Focus on Africa and make localized mobile phones.
The needs of African veterans are quite different from ours.
For example, different networks in Africa have different coverage, and calls between different operators will be more expensive than intra-network calls. It's a bit similar to the idea of inter-bank transfer back in the day. If you transfer from China Merchants Bank to China Merchants Bank, the handling fee will be cheaper, but if you transfer from China Merchants Bank to China Merchants Bank, the handling fee will be expensive.
The same person has multiple SIM cards in his wallet. He often needs to take them out and change cards to make calls, which is very frustrating.
Transsion was the first to launch a dual-SIM mobile phone in Africa, and in 2008 it also launched a four-SIM mobile phone.
In addition, at that time, the power grid in Africa was unstable and power outages were frequent, so they were very concerned about features such as the battery life of the mobile phone, how long it would last, and whether it had its own flashlight, which might just be icing on the cake for us.
The mainstream mobile phones in Africa at that time were Nokia and Samsung. These two major international manufacturers were also powerful and were more or less making local adjustments, including dust resistance, long battery life, durability, sweat resistance, etc.
But Chuanyin made his sword skills ruthless and precise.
Only the functions that African veterans care about most, and unimportant configurations can be cut off to keep the price of mobile phones low.
Transsion’s early sales of TECNO clamshell function phones in Africa were priced at about US$20 to US$50. Analysts estimate that they are at least 10% cheaper than competitors at the same price range.
In addition, Audio-Technica is very aggressive in its marketing, often occupying an entire building and covering the walls with its own logo, or placing Audio-Vision promotional flags on an entire street.
Li Yadong, who has interviewed six African countries, quoted a Chinese friend who has been in Africa for many years as saying, "Due to TECNO's wall-painting campaign, paint production has almost become a popular industry in Africa."
By around 2015, Transsion had taken the top spot in the African mobile phone market.
In the era of smartphones, Transsion also relied on its own acumen to conquer cities and territories crazily.
Due to the slow Internet speed, many African users do not download too many apps, and do not care so much about dual-core and quad-core. For them, the most intuitive thing may be taking selfies. Transsion has specially adjusted the beauty of dark skin to take photos.
If in the era of feature phones, Transsion was betting on the first mobile phone for Africans, then in the era of smartphones, many people believe that Transsion can win again with the wave of smart phones in Africa. This is exactly the case. Transsion has continued its advantages under this wave.
At the same time, he also copied his own style of play to emerging markets such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and Eastern Europe.
From 2019 to 2023, Transsion is on an overall upward trend. In 2023, Transsion's global smartphone shipments once ranked among the top five.
However, some people are now teasing whether this is the peak of sound transmission...
Starting as early as 2015, domestic brands such as OPPO, Realme, and Honor have entered the market one after another. Now they have gradually become a competitor that cannot be ignored in the market. The growth rate is fierce. In order to compete with its competitors, Transsion Kuku spends money.
As industry dividends gradually fade,
Transsion, which mainly focuses on mid- to low-end products and focuses on small profits but quick turnover, has encountered a big problem. Rising hardware costs have crazily eroded profit margins.
Yes, the main reason is that under the wave of AI, the price of global memory chips has been too sharp. For example, Meizu 22 Air said that it canceled the release due to the huge increase in memory prices...
In 2025, Transsion made 65.623 billion yuan this year, which was 4.5% less than the same period last year. However, operating profit dropped by 51.25%, and net profit also dropped by 53.43% from the same period last year, which is a bit of a profit crisis.
Of course, Chuanyin is also working hard to get itself back to the top, making many moves.
The most direct thing is to increase the number of mid-to-high-end models and increase the price of mobile phone products...
Post a few flagship models for everyone to experience
Transsion’s overall strategy is to reduce the price of products below US$100 (equivalent to approximately RMB 670) starting from the second half of 2025, while allowing significant growth in products priced at US$200 (equivalent to approximately RMB 1,340).
In the first four months of this year, the average selling price of Transsion’s smartphones rose to 705.5 yuan from 538.8 yuan in the same period last year, an increase of approximately 31%.
The model below is Transsion’s ITEL flagship model aimed at mass consumers. The price is relatively low, but the price is over a thousand yuan.
And more actively engage in side businesses,
Internet of Things, energy storage, electric three-wheelers, and electric two-wheelers.
Didn’t we mention earlier that when Transsion was making mobile phones, they found that the power grid in Africa was unstable, so there was a demand for mobile phone battery life, so they later built energy storage themselves.
After the introduction of electric vehicles, a closed loop of battery replacement, recycling, and energy storage was formed...
This was taken by a previous colleague in Africa
This is another thing with African characteristics.
There are many asset finance companies in Africa. People with relatively unstable incomes can buy a mobile phone through these companies with 0 down payment/very low down payment, and the remaining loan will be repaid in small installments on a daily basis.
There is a specific lock on the phone. If you don't pay back the money on the same day, the phone will become bricked. If you pay back the money, the phone can be unlocked.
Electric vehicles have a similar model.
You first acquire a car through this mode, during which you can use the car to make money, such as delivering goods and picking up people. Every time you replace the battery, you pay a small sum of money and buy a small piece of the motorcycle.
After paying a certain amount, the car will be yours.
Transsion’s electric vehicle brand has similar businesses in some regions.
Brands like Bolt have also settled a score for African veterans.
If you buy gasoline, the daily fuel cost is GH₵ 65. This money is a pure expense. If the engine breaks down, you have to repair it yourself.
If you buy their electric car, because electricity is more affordable than oil, the daily battery replacement + loan repayment is GH₵ 70 per day, which is not much more expensive, but you will get the right to use the car after two years, and the battery is BEEP, so you don’t have to worry.
In their words, they are paying for today and paying for their own tomorrow...
I have to say, this promotion is quite tempting.
Although these businesses will have greater room for imagination, for now, mobile phones are still the absolute basic base of Transsion.
Although Transsion's status will recover greatly in 2026, it is obvious that the market is no longer as simple as when it started. Therefore, when it logs into the Hong Kong stock market, it will naturally have to face the re-pricing of capital.
In this Hong Kong stock prospectus, Transsion’s fundraising purposes point to AI research and development, brand building and overseas market expansion.
Among them, AI is the big one. Transsion is researching its own AI assistant and AI imaging algorithm. Because African languages are particularly fragmented, and the same country may have English, French, Arabic and a large number of local languages, they are also studying AI small language models in a targeted manner.
The old story is coming to an end. Next, the former King of Africa needs to rely on his own understanding of the land to find a new growth story.
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