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Google to Partner with Transsion, China’s Phone Giant in Africa

by Cobus van Staden
Tecno store in Nairobi, Kenya. Photo by Cliff Mboya/CGSP.

Google announced that it struck a global strategic partnership with Transsion, a Chinese maker of mobile phones beloved across the Global South. Together, the two will target emerging markets like Africa via cooperation on the Android operating system, online advertising, and Google Cloud services.

Transsion’s stock surged by 7.5% after the announcement. The company, famous for its Tecno, Itel, and Infinix phones, is by far the biggest seller in Africa and is rapidly expanding in South Asia, the Middle East, and elsewhere. It is now the third biggest phone maker in the world. 

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