Islamabad: Local mobile phone manufacturing in Pakistan is booming, with support from Chinese mobile phone companies, and now meets 94% of the country’s demand.
This growth is attributed to strategic regulatory initiatives taken by the government aimed at sustaining sectoral expansion and innovation.
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Chairman Ret Major General Hafeezur Rahman Hai (M) presented the PTA Annual Report 2024 to Senate President Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani and highlighted the recent developments in the ICT sectors.
He stressed the Authority’s commitment to promoting technological progress, implementing Internet safety measures, protecting consumer rights, and promoting fair competition.
According to the report, the telecom sector achieved record revenues of Rs 955 billion in the fiscal year 2023-2024, an increase of 17% over the fiscal year 2022-2023, despite the economic challenges. Mobile services now reach 91% of the population, while 4G services cover 81%.
Total telecom subscribers will reach 196 million by September 2024, Gwadar Pro reported on Tuesday.
The number of broadband subscribers rose to 142.3 million from 127.6 million in June 2023. Average mobile internet speeds improved by 28%, rising from 15.65 Mbps to 20.02 Mbps.
Data usage grew by 24.2% to 25,141 terabytes in the 2023-2024 fiscal year, while broadband penetration increased to 58.4% compared to 53.6% in 2023.
“During fiscal year 2023-2024, 29.6 million mobile devices were manufactured domestically, meeting 94% of the country’s demand,” the report said. Local manufacturing/assembly also created 60,000 jobs for local residents.
According to the PTA website, during the first 10 months of 2024, Pakistan manufactured or assembled 22.59 million mobile devices locally.
Of these devices, 13.86 million were smartphones, while 8.73 million were second generation (2G) or GSM phones. In comparison, only 1.17 million mobile phones were imported commercially during this period.
Chinese brands led the local manufacturing industry, with Infinix producing 2.79 million devices, followed by iTel with 2.75 million, VGO Tel with 2.43 million, Vivo with 2.13 million, TECNO with 2.03 million, Redmi with 1.89 million, Realme with 1.35 million, and G. ‘Five with 1.09 million.
South Korea’s Samsung manufactured 0.98 million devices, while Nokia produced 0.96 million phones locally.