Samsung smartphones to be produced in Pakistan

KARACHI: Lucky Motor Corporation (LMC) has entered into an agreement with the Samsung Gulf Electronics for producing Samsung branded smartphones in Pakistan, to cater to the local demand, as the country’s mobile subscriptions crossed 164 million last year.

LMC, a subsidiary of the Lucky Cement Limited, is currently engaged in the business of manufacturing, assembly, marketing, distribution and sales of KIA and Peugeot branded vehicles, parts and accessories in Pakistan.

It has also initiated the process of seeking necessary regulatory approvals to carry on the said business and in this endeavour, has filed an application with the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) for securing the licence.

The production facility for producing Samsung mobile devices will be located at the Lucky Motor’s existing plant producing vehicles at Bin Qasim Industrial Park.

The mobile device production plant is anticipated to be completed by the end of December 2021. The amount contemplated to be invested in the production facility and the capacity thereof has not been finalised between Samsung and the Lucky Motor Corporation.

The country produced 1.21 million mobile phones in the first two months of 2021. These phones were manufactured at 33 local mobile devices assembly plants in Pakistan.

The number of smartphones assembled and produced in January and February 2021 indicate a significant increase, compared with the last two years. The country produced 2.1 million smartphone devices in 2020 and 119,639 in 2019, according to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA).

Samsung Smartphones Pakistan

The local production crossed 25 million mobile devices, including 4G smartphones; following the successful implementation of the PTA’s Device Identification, Registration and Blocking System (DIRBS).

Top mobile manufacturers, including Vivo, Oppo, Airlink, Transsion, Inovi, Tecno and G-five, had already received the authorisation to manufacture 2G, 3G and 4G devices.

Initially valid for the next 10 years, the manufacturers may also establish their own new brand under the authorisation, helping in promotion of the “Manufactured in Pakistan” culture.

Pakistan is looking to not only cater to the local demand of the mobile phones but to export them to global markets, as well, while the local manufacturing will be instrumental in providing new job opportunities and low-priced handsets to the users.

Pakistan’s total annual market size is estimated at 34 million handsets. Of them, 20 million are 2G and only 14 million are 3G and 4G, collectively.

According to the PTA, Pakistan imported 28 million handsets in 2019. Owing to the significant size and continuous growth in mobile connectivity, Pakistan has become the world’s seventh largest handset importer in the world.

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