Mobile phone imports jump 98pc – Newspaper

LAHORE: The mobile phone import bill, on a monthly basis, in July doubled in terms of $ 37.3 million to $ 73.8m (97.85 percent) despite a comparatively smaller increase of 11pc in the total number of units brought to the country.

The massive increase in the mobile phone import bill was not anticipated given the fact that internal mobile phone shipments had been steadily declining during the last fiscal year amid strong currency depreciation and heavy taxes and duties imposed by the government as part of its plan to compress demand in the wake of a balance of payments crisis.

The latest data for August have not yet been compiled, according to the office of the Director of the Pakistan Office of Commerce (Commerce) in Karachi.

Cumulatively, the mobile phone import bill dropped by almost a fifth from $ 741.8 million in fiscal year 2018 to $ 596.4 million in fiscal year 19, according to data published by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). On an annual basis, device imports in July increased above 14{7be40b84a6a43fc4fae13304fce9a2695859798abfc41afd127b9f8b21c5f9c5} ($ 64.6 million) compared to the same month last year.

Similarly, data on the Pakistan mobile phone market compiled by Canalys, a world leader in technology, show that mobile phone imports were significantly reduced in terms of the number of phones in the last financial year. From a monthly average of 1.1 million phones brought to the country during fiscal year 2018, the number decreased to the monthly average of 0.8 million in fiscal year 19.

Industry sources attribute the sharp increase in the import value of mobile phones to the increase in phone prices due to technological improvements. “This is because mobile phone manufacturers continually improve their technology to attract customers and add new features. This has raised prices (in dollar terms) substantially. For example, a phone that was available for $ 200 or so for a year or more, will now cost around $ 250 or even more due to the addition of new features and improvements in its technology, "said Ali Kakvi, director of Oppo marketing. Dawn on Tuesday.

Industry sources say that the massive devaluation of the currency over the past year forced users to switch from high-end and expensive phones to reasonably priced phones, which offer similar features.

Canalys data revealed that the country's mobile phone market is currently dominated by phones in the price range of $ 100-299 that represent 63 percent of the total market, followed by 18 percent taken by those in The range of $ 200 and $ 299 and 17 pieces for those priced less than $ 100.

The data also revealed that almost three quarters of Pakistan's market is currently dominated by four brands, with Oppo leading the way with 25 percent stake, followed by Samsung with 19 percent, Huawei with 15 percent and Vivo with 13 percent.

Posted on Dawn, September 18, 2019