Chinese Companies Are Leading Pakistan’s Mobile Phone Market

According to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, Pakistan locally manufactured or assembled 6.13 million phones in the first two months of 2024. On the other hand, only 0.3 million phones were imported during the same period. The latest reports claim that the phones include 3.35 million smartphones and 2.78 million Second Generation Mobile (2G mobile), commonly known as GSM phones. Chinese companies are playing a significant role in helping Pakistan reduce its import bill and ease the burden on foreign reserves. By manufacturing and assembling mobile devices, Chinese firms are no doubt leading Pakistan’s mobile phone market.

Chinese Firms Are Helping Pakistan To Reduce Import Bill

According to statistics, eight of the top ten mobile phone manufacturers/assemblers in Pakistan are from China. For instance, China’s Infinix produced 0.85 million phones in the first two months of 2024. Meanwhile, VGO Tel produced 0.82 million devices, and iTel took the third spot with 0.77 million phones. In the same way, Tecno, another Chinese mobile company, manufactured/assembled 0.63 million phones. Moreover, Redmi (Xiaomi) also produced 0.47 million mobile phone sets in Pakistan. They were followed by G’Five with 0.40 million phones, Vivo with 0.40 million sets, and Realme with 0.26 million phones.

In 2023, Pakistan witnessed a significant shift in its mobile phone market. The local assembly/manufacturing surged to 21.28 million units, surpassing commercial imports at just 1.58 million phones. China’s VGO TEL was among the top contributors to local production. It led with 2.73 million units, followed closely by China’s Infinix with 2.61 million and iTel with 2.56 million phones.

The trend of mobile phone imports in Pakistan changed drastically when various mobile companies began manufacturing/assembling phones in the country. If we go back to 2021, local manufacturing and assembling surpassed imports for the first time in Pakistan. It marked a substantial milestone in Pakistan’s mobile phone market. 24.66 million devices were produced locally as compared with 10.26 million mobile imports. In 2022, Pakistan registered 21.94 million units of local production, and assembling of phones, compared with just 1.53 million units of commercial imports.