Chinese phone maker Transsion suffered a heavy profit decline in 2022

Transsion Holdings (maker of Infinix, Tecno and Itel) experienced a downturn in revenues and profits in 2022 amid an inflationary environment, inventory situation and other macroeconomic challenges, per a Counterpoint research report.

The smartphone maker reported revenue of RMB 46.6 billion, which was 5.7% lower than the previous year, as the Techloy chart below shows. The company's net profit (the money it earned after deducting expenses) also decreased by 36.5% compared to the previous year.

This downturn was driven by a drop in sales volume in 2022, hitting a 14% decline compared to the previous year. This was a result of factors including inflation, higher interest rates, and a drop in consumer sentiment (people feeling less confident about the economy) which had a negative impact on the company's sales of mobile devices.

Additionally, Transsion Holdings increased spending on marketing and branding and its increased investment in research and development (R&D) contributed to lower profits. In terms of geographical distribution, Transsion made meaningful progress in tapping into higher-value markets out of its African base as its diversification efforts seem to be bearing fruit.

While Transsion’s revenues from Africa dropped 14.9% during the year, revenues in other regions increased 4.1%.