Smartphone production lowest in Sep

Smartphone production by local manufacturers has dropped by 2.39 lakh units to 5.87 lakh in September compared to the previous month, which is the lowest in the current year.

The total production of both smart and feature phones has also fallen by a big margin of 7.43 lakhs to 22.27 lakh units, according to the latest data from Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC).

Out of the total production, 26.38 per cent were smartphones while feature phones stake 73.62 per cent, meaning that smartphone production has dropped by 28.93 per cent.

Of the total produce, 16.40 lakh handsets were 2G-enabled feature phones and 4G-supported smartphones stake 5.82 lakh while only 5000 were 5G phones. No 3G-enabled feature phone was produced in the month.

Md Omar Faruk, CEO of feature phone manufacturer Al Amin Brothers, said low sales in the market triggered this fall. The present inflation and dollar price hike have impacted the handset industry, though the basic phone segment is less impacted as the affordability of the people is not that much stable.

“Due to the dollar price volatility, we are also facing losses and struggling to set a specified price,” he added.

“The fall both in sales and production started from April, especially smartphone sales received a hit compared to the same span in the last year,” said Mohammad Mesbah Uddin, chief marketing officer of Fair Electronics, Samsung’s local assembling and manufacturing partner.

“The manufacturers are not producing at their previous rate as the costs of production have surpassed the affordable sales price. Day by day, it is becoming tough to synchronise between manufacturing costs and selling prices in the market,” Mesbah added.

The BTRC data also showed that only 12,000 4G-supported smartphone handsets, no feature phone or 5-G-supported smartphone, were imported in September.

Compared to the other months of 2022, handset manufacturing at local factories reached its peak in January, with 41.45 lakh handsets — 27.54 lakh feature phones and 13.68 lakh smartphones — produced in the month.

Since then, handset manufacturing has been decreasing and in September the number became the lowest.

Locally assembling factories started catering to the country’s handset market during the last 4/5 years, after the government offered many tax and duty benefits for the local producers to boost investments in the sector, help the country save foreign currency and create much-needed employment.

Currently, there is a 57 per cent tax on imported smartphones and 32 per cent for basic and feature phones – while tax on locally assembled and manufactured handset is 18 and 13 per cent respectively.