ISLAMABAD: The country manufactured 12.27 million mobile phones compared to the imports of 8.29m sets during the first seven months of 2021, data released by the Pakistan Telecomm­unic­ation Authority (PTA) showed on Thursday.

However, 2G compatible sets continue to dominate local manufacturing compared to smartphones production in the country.

Out of the 12.27m mobile phones locally manufactured between January and July, only 4.87m were 4G compatible smartphones, whereas the bulk of 7.4m mobile phones sets were 2G technology.

Responding to a query, a manufacturer said the trend was changing and the ratio between the smartphones and old 2G technology-based sets will narrow in the coming months. “In the year 2020, only 2.06m smartphones were manufactured in Pakistan against 10.98m 2G sets. This year, almost 5m smart phones have already been rolled out and the gap with 2G sets is not too wide,” said Amir Allahwala, the CEO of Tecno.

PTA hails conducive policies for growing production in Pakistan

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

The PTA said a mobile ecosystem has been implemented in Pakistan by eliminating counterfeit device market providing a level playing field for commercial entities. This has created trust amongst consumers due to the formulation of standardised legal channels for all sorts of device imports, it added.

The authority said the Mobile Device Manufacturing (MDM) Regulations of January 2021 encouraged manufacturers to establish their units in Pakistan.

Till now, 26 companies have been issued MDM authorisation enabling them to manufacture mobile devices in Pakistan. These include renowned brands such as Samsung, Nokia, Oppo, Tecno, Infinix, Vgotel, Q-mobile etc.

Published in Dawn, August 27th, 2021