Nokia plans to grab market with Made in Bangladesh products

To have a strong foothold in local market HMD Global Bangladesh has launched Nokia G-Series Smartphones assembled in its Bangladeshi factory.

On Thursday in a launching ceremony in a Dhaka hotel, the company introduced G10 and G20 models -- both manufactured in Bangabandhu Hi-Tech City at Kaliakair of Gazipur -- upholding the “Made in Bangladesh” vision.

Vibrant Software (BD) Ltd, a joint venture of UK-based Vibrant Software and Union Group of Bangladesh, manufactures these Nokia handsets in Bangladesh.

The price for locally produced Nokia smartphones will be 30 per cent cheaper than the imported handsets, said Alvee Rana, director of Union Group.

“We have set up the factory following the European standards set by HMD Global. Initially, the factory will process 300 units of smartphones every day through six production lines, of which four are for assembling and 2 for packaging,” he added.

“The plant is facilitated with all required infrastructure, including its testing laboratory, and employs around 200 workers.”

Ravi Kunwar, general manager, Pan Asia, HMD Global, said today is a memorable day for everyone. The past one and half years have undoubtedly been challenging, but it offers a moment to pause, think and prepare for the next big step. The launch of the Bangladeshi assembled handsets along with the introduction of the factory is a milestone in the journey.

“Currently, we are eyeing feature phone market. If demand rises, we have capacity to manufacture high-end 5G-enabled smartphones. Our target is to be the third best in the local handset market,” Farhan Rashid, Country Lead of HMD Global Bangladesh, told The Business Post.

G10 is priced at Tk 13,499 and G20 Tk 14,999. Both android sets have three-day battery life.

Headquartered in Espoo, Finland, HMD Global Oy (HMD) is the home of Nokia phones.

The company claims that local mobile handset manufacturing industry began its journey back in 2017 when electronics brand Walton launched production in Bangladesh.

Since then 10 to 12 brands, including global smartphone vendors such as Samsung, Symphony, Oppo, Realme, Xiaomi, began production here. These brands produce 85 per cent of the smartphones in the local market and meet 55 per cent of local demand for both smartphones and feature phones.

According to the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission, the total number of handsets manufactured and imported in the country in Fiscal Year 2019-20 was 29.48 million units. Of them, 16.21 million were manufactured locally by 10 companies while 13.27 million imported.