AfricaPress-Tanzania: THE number of internet users in Tanzania registered a quarterly growth of 4.02 per cent at the end of March this year to 26.8 million, from 25.7 million in the quarter ended December last year.
The increase was triggered by the rise in the number of people using smartphone handsets to go online.
The internet penetration grew by 46 per cent to 25.7 million in 2019 from 23.14 million, which is equivalent to 43 per cent in the preceding year.
The latest statistics from the Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority (TCRA) for the quarter ending March this year shows that the number of subscriptions to mobile and fixed network increased to 48.9 million, slightly down from 49.0 million in December last year.
This is to say that out of 48.9 million mobile phone subscribers, 26.8 million of them were connected to internet services through their smartphone handsets in the country.
Tanzania ranks second in East Africa and fourth in Africa with the highest number of internet users after Nigeria with 126.07 million, which is 61.2 per cent of the population, Egypt 49.9 million – 48.1 per cent and Kenya 46.8 million – 87.2 per cent.
The number of smartphone users worldwide today surpasses three billion and is forecast to further grow by several hundred million in the next few years.
China, India, and the United States are the countries with the highest number of smartphone users, with each country easily surpassing the 100 million user mark.
The statistic on the global market share in shipments held by smartphone vendors worldwide, from the fourth quarter of 2009 to the first quarter of 2020 show that Samsung’s market share reached 21.2 per cent. In 2018, Samsung shipped more than 292 million smartphones worldwide.
Samsung, known for consumer products such as mobile devices and home entertainment systems, is the global leading smartphone vendor. Since 2012, the South Korean company has held a share of 20 to 30 per cent in the smartphone market. Apple has consistently been its closest rival over the years, while brands such as Lenovo and Huawei have also increased their smartphone market share.
Samsung’s main line of smartphone products is the Galaxy series, the first of which was released in April 2009. The company’s smartphone shipments have increased rapidly from 2.4 million at the start of 2010 to 74.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2017.
Apple is the second largest vendor of smartphones worldwide, with the company selling more than 215.8 million iPhones worldwide in 2017. As of the fourth quarter of 2017, Huawei is the third largest vendor of smartphones, with 10.2 per cent of the market share. The company sold more than 41 million units to end users in that quarter.
