(Yicai) Sept. 9 -- Chinese authorities have detained for investigation the chief financial officer of Transsion Holdings, a company best known for its dominance of Africa’s smartphone market through its brands Tecno, Itel, and Infinix.

Transsion was notified by the Supervisory Commission of Zhen’an district in Dandong, Liaoning province about Xiao Yonghui’s detention and investigation, the Shenzhen-based company announced on Sept. 6, without providing any further details.

Transsion, known colloquially in China as the ‘Africa Phone King,’ announced in July that a number of its executives, including Xiao, planned to invest CNY10.8 million to CNY14 million (USD1.5 million to USD2 million) to increase their stakes in the firm over the six months from July 16.

The company’s second-quarter phone shipments rose 4.1 percent to 25.5 million units from a year earlier, ranking fifth globally and first in Africa, according to data from market research firm Omdia.

But Transsion does face some hurdles. It was sued by Qualcomm in India in July because it “declined to accept a license from Qualcomm for the majority of its mobile products,” the Financial Times reported, citing Qualcomm’s General Counsel Ann Chaplin. The US chip giant has also filed claims in Europe and China against Transsion over alleged patent infringement, Chaplin noted.

Moreover, Transsion's net profit shrank 22 percent to CNY1.2 billion (USD168.8 billion) in the second quarter from the previous after revenue rose 8.6 percent to CNY17.1 billion (USD2.4 billion). First-half profit surged 36 percent to CNY2.9 billion from a year ago on a 38 percent jump in revenue to CNY34.6 billion.

Editor: Futura Costaglione