Mobile Imports Fell by 15.21% During Q1 of Current FY 2016-17

During the first quarter of ongoing financial year 2016-2017 (July-September), mobile phone imports in Pakistan fell by 15.21 percent as compared to the same period of preceding year.

Overall imports of mobile phone stood at $146.57 million. According to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) it was $172.87 million in the same period last year.

Industry professionals credited this strike in mobile imports mostly because of the entire economic slowdown.

“Drop in mobile imports during first quarter of this fiscal is due to a general slowdown in economic activity. The overall output of mobile phones has been falling steadily. As the government has made it mandatory to get NOC from PTA for mobile handset imports from anywhere in the world.”

Karachi Electronics and Small Traders Association’s president Muhammad Rizwan Irfan, revealed.

Mobile Imports Fell by 15.21% During Q1 of Current FY 2016-17

Also Read: Mobile Phone Users Growth Continuously Increasing in Pakistan

He further added that strong rivalry among mobile manufacturing companies has led to noteworthy drop in profit margins of vendors. Due to which small traders are having trouble to carry on their businesses.

In the same way total telecom imports in Pakistan plummeted in the said period to $277.69 million. It recorded 11.2 percent annual growth as compared to telecom imports worth of $312.79 million in same period of FY16.

Owing to almost achievement of next generation technologies’ network roll out in the country, import of mobile gadget also dipped by 6.29% in July-September of 2016.

Telecom companies imported $131.13 million worth of telecom accessories and machinery in the first quarter of FY17. As it stood at 139.93 million in same period of previous fiscal.

In spite of rapid diffusion of smart phones in Pakistan, authorized import bill of mobile phones persisted on downward trajectory. Mainly because of complex method and greater taxation on imports as grey imports of mobile phones endure to see growth.

Mobile phone imports declined significantly by 20.19 percent in the month of September 2016. Pakistani imported $53.85 million worth of mobile phones in the said month as compared to $67.48 million in same month of 2015.

Similarly, entire telecom imports dropped by 13.67% to $103.22 million in September 2016. Compared to $119.56 million of telecom imports in September 2015. Whereas import of telecom apparatus and accessories fell by 5.22 percent in September 2016 to $49.36 million when compared to total import of telecom apparatus worth $52.08 million in corresponding month of FY16.

Also Read: Mobile Import Drops by 12.03% During 2016-17 Fiscal Year

For Detailed Report Please Visit: Pakistan Bureau of Statistics