South Africans are buying fewer phones and paying more for them

South Africans spent more on telecoms products in the first half of 2026 but bought fewer of them, according to NielsenIQ’s latest State of the Retail Nation analysis. Average selling prices in the category, the largest in the local tech and durables market, rose 9.8% while unit sales fell 7.9%.

It was also the only major category to grow in value over the period, up 1.1%. NIQ said growth in both prepaid and post-paid smartphone value suggests some consumers are trading up, and that smartphone demand held up better than most discretionary product groups even as affordability pressure weighed on volumes.

The rest of the market moved the other way. Computing and IT recorded a 10.7% drop in sales value against a 2.3% fall in units, with average selling prices down 8.6% – a value decline running almost five times faster than the volume decline, which points to heavy discounting rather than collapsing demand.

Panel televisions told a similar story: units up 4.5%, value down 6.6% and average prices down 10.7%. Small domestic appliances fell 9.5% in value and 5.7% in units. Office machines dropped 9.7% in value, continuing a long contraction. Major domestic appliances were close to flat, down 0.5% in value on a 2.1% rise in units.

Category

Value

Units

Average price

Telecoms

+1.1% −7.9% +9.8%

IT

−10.7% −2.3% −8.6%

Panel TVs

−6.6% +4.5% −10.7%

Major appliances

−0.5% +2.1% −2.5%

Small appliances

−9.5% −5.7% −4.0%

Office machines

−9.7% −6.2% —

Tech and durables, first half of 2026 against the same period in 2025. Source: NIQ

Across the whole tech and durables market, sales value fell 5.8% and unit sales 2.6%.

“Slower discretionary spending took its toll on the T&D sector in the first half,” said Zak Haeri, MD of NIQ South Africa, in a statement on Tuesday. “Growing competition from emerging Chinese brands has also introduced more pricing pressure in key segments of the appliance and consumer technology markets.”

Haeri said buyers are postponing upgrades rather than abandoning technology. “In the IT and smartphone segments, consumers appear to be postponing upgrades rather than rejecting technology altogether. Purchases still happen when the benefit is visible and practical. The strongest purchase trigger is capable specifications, practical features and affordability in one package.”

Responsive to prices

The contrast with groceries is stark. Fast-moving consumer goods sales reached R347.7-billion over the six months, up 5.5% in value and 7.7% in units. Within that, traditional trade – spaza shops, taverns and independent superettes – turned over R85.4-billion and grew 13.7%, against 3.7% growth for the R257.1-billion modern trade channel.

NIQ said a growing share of grocery sales is happening on promotion, and that its analysis found year-on-year increases in both regular and promotional price elasticity – meaning shoppers are more responsive to price rises and to discounts than they were a year ago. – (c) 2026 NewsCentral Media

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