They don't have super cameras or powerful chips, nor expensive materials that make their prices comparable to a computer, but at $ 100 or less they offer acceptable performance.
They are the 'feature phones', mobile phones with numeric keypads with basic functions, which are mainly sold in developing countries.
Even though shipments are declining year-over-year, the market resists: according to analyst firm Counterpoint Research, more than 74 million of these devices were sold worldwide during the third quarter of 2020.
And Samsung, which is the leading smartphone manufacturer in the world, in this ranking must be satisfied only with third place, with a 10% share, on a par with Tecno, the Korean company that has sold 7.4 million features. phone in the period considered.
In first place is the Chinese company iTel mobile, the largest feature phone manufacturer in the world with a market share of 24%.
Followed by Nokia, or rather HMD Global, which has been selling mobile phones with the Finnish brand since 2017, with a 14% market share.
After Samsung and Tecno there is the Indian company Lava, which also produces a part of devices for Nokia and other brands.
The Middle East and Africa region is the largest market for these devices.
Despite being such a large sector, analysts note, the market is in constant decline year-over-year, with shipments at -17% between July and September 2020, compared to the same period in 2019. Similarly, shipments of features phone in North America were down 75% year-over-year and 50% quarter-over-quarter.
