Mobile phones: Local manufacturing, assembling witness 88pc rise YoY

ISLAMABAD: The manufactured/assembled mobile phones handsets by local manufacturing plants during the calendar year 2021 stood at 24.66 million compared to 13.05 million in 2020, ie, 88 percent increase.

The commercial imports of mobile phones handsets stood at 10.26 million in 2021 compared to 24.51 million in 2020, revealed the official data of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) available with Business Recorder.

The number of local manufactured/assembled mobile handsets increased by 2.54 million in December 2021 and the total production reached 24.66 million in the calendar year.

The production of mobile phones by local manufacturing plants has more than double against the import of commercial mobile phones in the country during 2021.

However, despite the increase in local production of mobile phones, Pakistan imported mobile phones worth $1.09 billion during the first half (July-December) of 2021 compared to $938.819 million during the same period of last year, registering a growth of 16.17 percent, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

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The PTA data revealed that the local manufacturing trend reflects a positive uptake on the PTA’s Mobile Device Manufacturing (MDM) Authorization regulatory regime, whereby, local manufacturing within the first year of regime introduction has resulted in production of 24.66 million phones in a short span of one year, including 10.06 million 4G smartphones.

As per the PTA data, 52 percent mobile devices are smartphones and 48 percent 2G on Pakistan network.

The successful implementation of Device Identification Registration and Blocking System (DIRBS) along with conducive government policies including the mobile manufacturing policy has created a favourable environment for mobile device manufacturing in Pakistan.

It has also contributed positively to the mobile ecosystem of Pakistan by eliminating counterfeit device market providing a level-playing field for commercial entities and has created trust among consumers due to the formulation of standardised legal channels for all sorts of device imports.

The government had introduced a mobile manufacturing policy to encourage and attract manufacturers to establish their units in Pakistan.

The PTA in light of the policy issued Mobile Device Manufacturing (MDM) Regulations on 28th January 2021.

Till now, 29 companies have been issued MDM Authorization enabling them to manufacture mobile devices in Pakistan.

The companies included renowned brands e.g. Samsung, Nokia, Oppo, TECNO, Infinix, Vgotel, Q-mobile etc.

The establishment of 29 manufacturing plants has brought in an investment of over $126 million and created over 10,000 jobs in a short span.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022