Fakers control 10% phone market share in Nigeria

Fake phone manufacturers and importers seem to be having upper hand in the current battle with such products’ regulators in Nigeria, Nigeria CommunicationsWeek can report.

According to an impeccable source in the phone manufacturing business, counterfeiters might have taken over more than ten per cent (10%) of the market share, and glaringly displaying the products at different areas like Computer Village- Ikeja and other hinterlands.

“It is affecting a whole lot of things in this market. We hear of people complain about Poor Quality of Network Service (QoS), the activities of these phone fakers contribute a lot to that. So, users of such phones are losers, government is losing revenue, we are losing the market too as original equipment manufacturers and spells doom for the market.

“These guys used to occupy about five per cent of the market, but I can authoritatively tell you that they have gone beyond ten per cent of the market share,” the source who prefers anonymity told Nigeria CommunicationsWeek.

Nigeria CommunicationsWeek had in October 1, 2016 exclusively reported the discovery by the Association of Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ATCON), which called for urgent measures to curb the increasing rate of dumping fake mobile phones in the country.

Mr. Olusola Teniola, ATCON said that that investigations revealed more than twenty (20) mobile phone brands in the country are not NCC type-approved and contribute significantly to the persistent poor quality of service‎ (QoS).

Although, names of the phone brands are yet to be made public, however, Teniola said that the unregistered/unapproved brands have over one hundred and fifty (150) mobile phone models circulating in Nigeria.

He said that the Association believes more stringent measures should be taken to curb the counterfeiting of mobile phones in the country.

Meanwhile, fresh facts emerged recently, showing that the fakers copy 100% of top phone brands in the market, selling same to end-users as the original.