Pakistani multinational corporations intend to close their mobile phone assembly facilities.
After carefully observing Pakistan’s economic situation, the first move has been taken. The choice was made because more money was required. According to reports, three significant phone manufacturers have stopped operating their production lines.
When speaking to the news, Sardar Azhar Sultan, the president of Lahore Traders Rights, expressed serious worries.
The lack of dollars is making it difficult for mobile phone companies to transfer money to their overseas headquarters, according to Sardar Azhar Sultan. Importing mobile phone accessories is another challenge for business. There is no opening of the Letters of Credit (LCs). No goods are arriving. How will the company operate?
However, it has not yet been made public which businesses have decided to shut down their assembly lines. The specific names of the corporations that are ceasing local production in Pakistan are not given.
Additionally, the nation is home to significant phone manufacturers and assemblers including Xiaomi, Samsung, Infinix, Vivo, and others. There has also been no official statement regarding which of these brands has stopped production.
Pakistan’s Reaction to It
However, it’s difficult to accept that important corporations are considering ceasing operations. Only bad news for Pakistani clients is shown here.
However, a few years ago, several models’ prices were reasonable due in large part to local smartphone manufacture.
On the other hand, import prices are rising faster than ever as a result of the recent closure of assembly lines. As a result, the cost of smartphones is rapidly increasing.
At instance, the Redmi Note 10 Pro debuted in Pakistan for about Rs. 45,000–50,000. Its replacement, the Redmi Note 11 Pro, is currently more expensive, costing over Rs 80,000.
The same holds true for high-end remanufactured devices from Apple, Samsung, Vivo, and other brands. However, given that flagship products were initially hardly ever made locally.
This has nothing to do with the exorbitant import duties imposed on domestic production.
Previously, Pakistan’s economy benefited from higher-than-average domestic mobile phone production. This action had a favourable effect on the Pakistani administration. Local factories generated 24.66 million mobile devices in 2021. 13.05 million in 2020, which represents an 88% growth.
However, the total number of cellphones produced locally increased to 24.66 million in December 2021, up 2.54 million from the previous month. More than 25 companies received licences from Mobile Device Manufacturing (MDM) to carry on with their operations in Pakistan in this regard.
