Samsung Electronics has appointed Mitsumi Distribution as an authorised channel business-to-business (B2B) distributor in South Africa to expand the reach of its Mobile eXperience portfolio and products into a wider network across the country.

The partnership brings Mitsumi's regional distribution expertise and customer-first approach to the South African market, enabling enhanced access to the full spectrum of Samsung's products, from flagship smartphones and tablets to sleek smartwatches.

Mitsumi will also distribute Samsung's mobile accessories, including high-performance batteries, stylish flip covers and SD cards, through a broader network of retailers, including smaller specialist retailers and online stores.

“The research tells us that consumers spent about R130-billion on technology and durable electronic goods in South Africa in 2025 – R60-billion in the first half alone – with 50% of these accounting for smart devices and wearables,” said Samsung Mobile VP Justin Hume of the opportunity in South Africa.

“The mobile market, effectively, is about a R60-billion market in this economy right now, and overwhelmingly, Samsung has come out as the brand of choice, whether that be through a consumer brand attitude survey or in terms of absolute units being sold from the market share perspective.”

While Samsung is already well-established in South Africa, there is an opportunity to expand its reach within the country and close a gap, as much of the market sits around a very formalised mobile operator involvement and supply into the market.

“The challenge . . . is [that] it leaves huge gaps: underserviced communities, particularly when we think about B2B, or B2B-to-consumer retailers, and resellers getting into markets that are not serviced by the current large retail chains, besides others,” he continued.

Following nearly a year of hard work to set up the foundation and working with the team, Mitsumi was formally announced as Samsung’s partner in South Africa on Thursday.

“This is not something new. We have a very entrenched, strong partnership across Africa and into the Middle East with Mitsumi, and it is fantastic to now formally introduce them into this market. They have a proven history, working with excellence, providing support and meeting the very high quality standards that are out there.”

Mitsumi Distribution business unit head Manoj Changarampatt said that Mitsumi, founded in Kenya in 1998, operates across 35 countries, 27 of which include Samsung partnerships.

While Mitsumi is new for South Africa, the group has longstanding partnerships across the Middle East and Africa, and more recently, in India, with strong sales infrastructure, warehousing and distribution facilities established in each country.

This enables broader distribution, greater value and choice, channel support and financing access, with Mitsumi’s core capabilities including value distribution, volume distribution, telco distribution, managed and after-sales services and channel enablement.

This wider distribution strategy also includes enhanced support coverage for Samsung warranties, reducing the risk of grey-market purchases, as well as opening avenues for cost-conscious buyers to enjoy affordable and reliable devices that enhance their lifestyles.

“We have worked with Samsung for a number of years. Samsung is also . . . one of the top brands within the information and communications technology (ICT) products that we distribute,” he added.

Mitsumi is present in a number of segments, such as ICT, cloud and AI solutions, networking and infrastructure, service security, enterprise, laptops and workstations, hardware components, printers and supplies and mobile devices, besides others.