Smart phone sale hit 25.6 million units in 2013

by Obodo Ejiro

Some 25.6 million units of smart phones were sold last year according to data released by GFK, an international market research company with an office in Lagos. The data, which was made available exclusively to BusinessDay, showed the distribution of sales of some electronics. It confirmed that Lagos still commands the highest share of sales across the country.

Interestingly, more phones were sold in the Northern zones than in the south (excluding Lagos). While 10.5 million phones were sold in Lagos along, 7.9 million were sold in the north while 7.1 million were sold in the south (excluding Lagos).

Based on BusinessDay Research and Intelligence Unit (BRIU) calculations, assuming, the average smart phone cost N10, 000, then it will be safe to assume that at least N256billion was expended on smart phones in Nigeria last year!

Also included in the data set released by GFK were records on flat panel TVs sales and audio home systems. Both products recorded significant amounts of patronage as 853,124 flat panel TVs and 363,928 audio home systems were sold across Nigeria last year.

According to GFK, “what is most remarkable is the preference for bigger screen sizes. Nearly 8 out of every 10 TVs being sold is 32 inches and above. This shows a remarkable shift from the previous cathode ray tube TV models that were mostly 21 inches and below that were in most Nigerian homes”.

As with smart phones, more flat panel TV sets and audio home system were sold in Lagos than anywhere else. Some 399,778 units of TV sets were sold in Lagos, in the other states which make up the south, 282,050 were sold while the north recorded 171,296 units in sales of flat panel TV sets.

BRIU estimates that TV sets worth N60 billion were sold last year based on an average price of N70,000 per unit. As with the other products, more audio home systems were sold in Nigeria’s commercial capital, Lagos.

Earlier in the year, information made available from the Ministry of Trade and Investment indicated that retail attracted $1.3 billion in investment in the last two years. The data released by GFK points to growing consumption in Nigeria and its volume.

Nigeria now has 8 cities which have populations above 1 million people and estimates from BRIU show that more cities in the country will have populations above that number in the next six to seven years.

This is occurring in the midst of rising income levels, and urbanization. BRIU’s retail report has indicated at increasing acceptance of western values and lifestyles among Nigerians living in urban areas is one of the factors driving consumption in Nigeria. 

“Though 60% of people living in Nigeria live on less than one dollar daily, it must be underscored that the remaining 40%, is 16.4 million more than the population of South Africa. The largest of Nigeria’s cities are Lagos city with a population of 10.1 million people, Kano city with a population of 4.1 million people and Ibadan city with population of 3.8 million people” a BRIU report indicated earlier this year.

Cities like Kaduna, Port Harcourt and Benin City have population figures estimated at 1.8 million, and 1.3 million respectively. Aba, which is the least of the eight most populated cities in Nigeria, has a population of 1 million people the BRIU report indicates.

According to BRIU, “the most attractive locations for new retail outlets are often the first tier cities of Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja, due to the sophistication of the population, the population density, ease of access to retail outlets, and superior infrastructure.

But as those cities become more saturated, Nigeria’s second tier cities become also important.  As at year end 2013, the country had an estimated population of 171 million population.

This number has attracted a lot of interest because of the population’s rising capacity to consume an assortment of goods and services.