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Mobile phones import up 28%

By Romail Kenneth

KARACHI: The import of mobile phones grew substantially by 28.01 percent in the first ten months of the current financial year. In the last three years, the import of mobile phones has increased by almost six times.

Pakistan imported mobile phones worth $728,283 during July 2006–April 2007 of the current fiscal year as compared with $568,930 during the same period in July 2005–April 2006.

During July 2006–April 2007 of the current fiscal year, other telecom machinery worth $1.83 million were imported as against $1.56 million during the same period in July 2005–April 2006, depicting an increase of 17.35 percent.

Shahid Khan, National Marketing manager in Samsung told Daily Times that a 21 percent increase in mobile import is expected in the next fiscal year. Chinese copies of different expensive international brands are also available in the market at a low price, which is badly affecting the image and business of original brands, he added.

In recent years, the business of the Pakistani cellular phone industry in the country has risen from 1.2 million in 2002 to 52 million in 2007. After the arrival of Warid and Telenor, an intense competition has been witnessed in the sector.

Apart from this, the manufacturing facility of mobile handsets and other telecom equipments is still lacking in Pakistan, even though the government is attracting foreign companies to invest in this area as there is a continuous demand for telecom related equipment in the country.

According to Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), the import of other telecom equipment has also witnessed increase due to expansion of telecom network and services. Mobilink has over 25 million clients followed by Ufone with 12 million, Warid with 9.7 million and Telenor with 9.6 million. In the month of April 2007, Warid recorded an 8.5 percent increase and is now in third place.

To compete with each other, mobile phone companies are reducing the rates of sets, boosting the trend of replacing old mobiles with new ones.

According to an estimate, there are more than 1,75,000 mobile phone shops across Pakistan generating employment for over 6,45,000 people. Mobile phone shops include high-end franchise show rooms to small kiosks in markets and shopping malls.

A cellular phone retailer at Saddar Electronic market said the sale of used mobile has dropped as the mobile companies are launching cellular phones equipped with latest features at low prices. But still many shopkeepers are selling used mobiles and also guarantee to remove apprehensions from the minds of customers, he added.

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