Maser Group: Revolutionising consumer electronics across the Middle East and Africa
A Meteoric Rise
Since its inception, Maser has demonstrated remarkable growth. In 2019, the company sold an impressive 200,000 units in Dubai alone, 70% of which were re-exported to African markets, where they enhanced the lives of countless families through entertainment. This momentum was only the beginning. By 2020, Maser had sold over 600,000 units, more than tripling its volume in just a year. This feat earned Maser the title of the top-selling brand in Africa, as reported by leading publications such as Citizen and IPPmedia.
Maser's commitment to affordability and quality has not gone unnoticed. According to a recent survey by Crexcel Market Research in collaboration with the East Africa Herald, Maser was recognized as the most admired technology brand and the top wearable electronics brand across 20 African nations, including Nigeria, Tanzania, South Africa, and Kenya. The survey highlighted Maser's dominance in the low-cost segment, with an impressive 74% market share, outpacing competitors like Hisense (10%), TCL (8%), Xiaomi (6%), and Haier (2%).
Disrupting the Market with Affordable Innovation
Despite the dominance of global giants like Samsung, Sony, and LG in the premium segment, Maser has carved out a significant niche in the low-cost category. This success is a testament to its ability to provide high-quality, affordable products that resonate with everyday consumers. In less than seven years, the company has become a household name, with its products playing an integral role in the lives of millions.
Building on this momentum, Maser is doubling down on its commitment to innovation and growth. The company plans to invest $300 million over the next three years to expand its portfolio, focusing on LED TVs, air conditioners, and washing machines for the Middle East and African markets.
The Visionary Behind Maser
At the heart of Maser's success is its CEO and founder, Prateek Suri. A visionary leader with a keen eye for identifying market gaps, Suri has transformed Maser from a single-product company manufacturing LED TVs into a multi-million-dollar enterprise offering a diverse range of electronics, including smart TVs, air conditioners, washing machines, and audio systems. His ability to balance day-to-day operations with a forward-thinking vision has set Maser apart in a competitive industry.
A Commitment to Shared Values
Suri's leadership extends beyond business. On the occasion of India's Republic Day, he shared a heartfelt message reflecting his deep-rooted values of innovation, integrity, and inclusivity. "On this remarkable day, we honour India's journey to freedom. At MDR Investments, part of Maser Group, we draw inspiration from India's resilience and unity. Let's continue to build a future driven by innovation, integrity, and inclusive growth. Jai Hind!"
The Road Ahead
As Maser continues to expand its footprint in the Middle East and Africa, its focus remains on empowering consumers with affordable, high-quality technology. With plans for substantial investments and a commitment to innovation, the company is well-positioned to maintain its leadership in the low-cost segment and explore new frontiers in the tech industry.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arabian Post
a day ago
- Arabian Post
Visa Opens First Data Centre in Johannesburg
Visa has officially opened its first data centre in Johannesburg, South Africa, marking a significant milestone in its expansion across the African continent. The new facility aims to support the growing demand for secure digital payments, a sector that has experienced rapid growth in the region. The move comes as Visa seeks to strengthen its presence in Africa, where it has long identified untapped potential. According to a statement from the company, the centre will enhance the company's ability to deliver secure, reliable, and scalable payment solutions to local businesses and consumers. This marks a crucial moment as Visa continues its investment in the continent's digital economy, which has seen notable advancements in mobile banking and e-commerce. Visa's expansion into Africa has been closely linked to the rise of digital and contactless payments. Data shows that more than 60% of face-to-face payments in South Africa are now made using contactless methods, a clear indicator of the shift towards digital transactions. The new data centre is expected to cater to the increasing demand for these kinds of payment solutions, offering robust data security and operational support. ADVERTISEMENT Johannesburg was chosen for the centre due to its status as a major financial hub in Southern Africa, making it an ideal location to serve both local and regional markets. The centre will provide services such as data storage, processing, and backup, ensuring that Visa's operations across Africa are well-supported and resilient. This move also reflects South Africa's growing position as a gateway for technological investment on the continent. Visa's decision to base the data centre in South Africa comes at a time when businesses across Africa are embracing digital transformation. More and more companies are adopting digital payment systems to enhance operational efficiency, improve consumer experience, and foster growth. This trend is particularly evident in South Africa, where fintech startups are thriving and traditional financial institutions are stepping up their efforts to modernise. The centre is expected to drive innovation within the payments sector. As demand for digital services rises, Visa aims to ensure that payment solutions are fast, secure, and seamless. The company has committed to leveraging its technology to support the digital economy, not just for large enterprises but for small businesses as well. By providing access to secure and affordable payment options, Visa hopes to foster inclusivity and financial literacy among South Africa's diverse population. Visa has long been a key player in South Africa's payments ecosystem, but its commitment to localised data storage and processing marks a shift towards more regionally focused solutions. While global companies have traditionally operated in Africa using international servers, Visa's decision to house critical infrastructure on the continent is a reflection of both the regulatory environment and the company's drive to be closer to its customers. One significant factor in Visa's decision to build a data centre in South Africa is the country's data protection laws. The Protection of Personal Information Act places strict guidelines on how companies handle the personal data of South African citizens. By ensuring that sensitive data is stored within the country's borders, Visa will be able to meet compliance requirements while also enhancing its offerings to clients. ADVERTISEMENT The timing of the centre's opening is also aligned with broader shifts within the global payments industry. The growing adoption of contactless payments, driven by consumer demand for convenience, has been accelerating worldwide. Visa's investment in Africa is timely, as the region is poised for significant growth in mobile money and digital banking. By enhancing its infrastructure, Visa is positioning itself as a leading provider of secure and efficient payment solutions in Africa. Visa's commitment to the continent is not limited to South Africa. The company has already made substantial investments in other African countries, aiming to improve financial inclusion and provide innovative payment solutions. These efforts are expected to provide a wide range of benefits to the African economy, especially as countries look to grow their digital and mobile sectors. The launch of the Johannesburg data centre is a major step in Visa's strategic plan for Africa, aimed at expanding its services to new markets while addressing the growing demand for secure, reliable, and efficient payment systems. Visa has reiterated its commitment to continuing to invest in Africa and further strengthening its position as a leader in the payments industry.
Zawya
2 days ago
- Zawya
South Africa: Airbus opens new support hub in Johannesburg
Airbus has opened a new customer support centre for commercial aircraft in Johannesburg, reinforcing its long-standing partnership with Africa's aviation sector. The centre marks a key milestone in the company's nearly 50-year presence on the continent. The Johannesburg facility will offer technical assistance, engineering and maintenance solutions, fleet performance analysis, training services, and on-site support for all Airbus commercial aircraft families, including the A220, A320, A330, and A350. 'The new centre expands Airbus' presence in Africa and underscores our confidence in the region's potential, as we invest in local capabilities, empower our customers, drive connectivity and shared progress across the continent,' said Gabriel Semelas, president of Airbus in the Middle East and Africa. Supporting African airline operations By strengthening customer proximity, the new centre is designed to help African airlines operate safe, efficient, and reliable fleets. Airbus currently serves nearly 40 African carriers operating more than 260 Airbus aircraft. According to the company's Global Services Forecast, Africa will require 14,000 new pilots and 21,000 maintenance professionals over the next 20 years to support projected growth in air travel demand. Broader presence across the continent Airbus has been active in Africa since the first A300 aircraft delivery in 1976. Its broader African footprint includes Airbus Helicopters, which this year marks 30 years of operations in Southern Africa, where its Midrand hub provides maintenance, spare parts, and the continent's first H125 virtual reality simulator for pilot training. Airbus Defence and Space also provides support to African governments through military aircraft, Earth observation services, and satellite-based connectivity. With more than 180 African suppliers integrated into its global supply chain, Airbus contributes to local job creation, skills development, and industrial growth across the continent. All rights reserved. © 2022. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
Zawya
2 days ago
- Zawya
Africa food systems not on track, time for decisive action
As the world assembles for the UN Food Systems Summit in Addis Ababa this week, we confront a simple but profound invitation not merely to reflect on four years of progress since 2021, but to fundamentally rethink how we finance, produce, and govern agri-food systems. This is because, from the intensive discussions on nutrition in Paris during the Nutrition for Growth Summit in March to the recent International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) in Seville, and now, the sobering data of the 2025 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report, the message is unmistakable: we must change and the time for change is now. The SOFI 2025 report offers both warning and nuance. While hunger receded in Southern Asia and Latin America, food insecurity worsened in both rural and urban Africa between 2022 and 2024. The global gender gap in food insecurity narrowed from 2021 to 2023 only to widen again in 2024, leaving women disproportionately exposed to malnutrition. Conflict, climate volatility, and post-Covid inflation have combined to erode hard-won gains, casting a long shadow over our pursuit of SDG 2 – ending hunger. These mixed signals demand clarity: Africa is not on track, and without decisive action, vulnerability will deepen across the continent. In light of these challenges, we must continue making the case for agri-food systems. What does this actually mean? To me, it means calling for courage from donors, multilateral lenders, and investors to rethink risk, unlock catalytic capital, and shift away from short-term projects towards long-term, systemic financing. It means embracing unconventional tools like concessional finance, blended models, pay-for-results frameworks, and payments for ecosystem service (PES), among other novel ideas. It also means financing food systems through cross-sector channels, including health, climate, and social protection because food systems are not a silo, but the very infrastructure of resilience. Most crucially, it means putting farmers and food producers, especially young people, at the centre of the conversation. I am convinced that agri-food systems must become an active driver of our food security and nutrition sufficiency transformation, not a passive recipient of aid. If centred in policy and resourced effectively, it will catalyse economic growth, unlock livelihood improvements, and simultaneously deliver on climate and nutrition goals. It is where climate action meets healthy diets, where dignified employment meets rural renewal, and where innovation meets inclusion for women and youth. In Africa, this synergy is not a distant aspiration, it is an imperative for survival and prosperity. At AGRA, with our two decades experience co-designing African solutions to sustainably raise farmers' productivity and connecting them to a growing marketplace, we continuously embrace what has worked while evolving new ideas. Our work with researchers, donors, African governments, the private sector and civil society has seen small and medium enterprises thrive, digital and nature-based solutions scaled, and tangible results realised through increased smallholder productivity, reduction in post-harvest, and emergence of new market opportunities. For example, AGRA has facilitated 42 policy reforms across 11 focus countries thereby reducing approval times from between eight to 10 years to between three to five years. In Tanzania, 2017 fertiliser regulations centralised oversight, increasing trade by 47 percent and reducing prices by between 10 percent and 40 per cent. AGRA supported 10 National Agricultural Investment Plans (NAIPs) and 10 flagship programmes, mobilising $1.4 billion, including $400 million from governments. In Kenya, the 2019 Seed Act expanded certified seed access for 2.5 million farmers. These policy reforms unlocked $1.5 billion in public budgets. Ethiopia's extension system trained 70,000 agents, serving 15 million farmers, while Nigeria's revived state councils secured $5 million in investments. But too often, these successes cannot be scaled, sustained or replicated across countries not for lack of innovation, but financing. Regrettably, as we seek to accelerate progress, finance is unwinding in the opposite direction. Official development assistance from G7 donors has fallen by nearly 28 percent since 2021, while debt burdens in low- and middle-income countries have surged, constraining fiscal space for essential investments. Globally, it will take $1.2 trillion to $1.4 trillion a year to transform global agri-food systems, just one percent of global GDP. This is a fraction of the $12 trillion we're already losing annually to the hidden costs of poor health, environmental degradation, and inequality. The case for action is clear: responsible investment could unlock $4.5 trillion in new business opportunities each year. These estimates, captured in the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development's 2025 White Paper on Financing Agri-food Systems, a process to which AGRA is proud to have contributed, reminds us that the issue isn't a shortage of capital, but whether we choose to deploy it where it matters most. Ultimately, if stakeholders are serious about transforming Africa's agri-food systems, they must also get serious about financing her people and harness their creativity. The question before us in Addis Ababa is clear: will we seize this moment to mobilise the capital, creativity, and courage required to build the food systems that Africa and the world urgently needs?Alice Ruhweza is President of AGRA, an African-led organisation focused on putting farmers at the centre of our continent's growing economy. © Copyright 2022 Nation Media Group. All Rights Reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
