Mobile phone manufacturing industry flourishing again

Tecno Mobiles official says economic revival has started, consumer demand is rising

LAHORE:

The smartphone companies operating in Pakistan are once again gearing up for new mobile phone launches as their managements believe that the economic revival process has started and consumer demand is rising.

Tecno Mobiles is one such brand which is preparing for a new smartphone launch with the hope of becoming a big market player in future.

“Smartphone sales in this quarter will define the outlook of mobile phone industry for the next year,” said Ali Raza, Head of Marketing, Tecno Mobiles Pakistan.

In an interview with The Express Tribune, Raza said “we as an industry have just come out of a bad recession and shutdowns”.

“The economic turmoil was equally bad for all industries, however, I believe that our bus has arrived this time; with the availability of imported mobile phone units as well as spare parts, the journey of this industry is once again in the process of flourishing.”

The influx of different mobile companies, most of which are Chinese brands, has revolutionised the smartphone market in Pakistan over the last one decade. The majority of brands in recent years have initiated the process of assembling smartphones by putting investments of millions of dollars, offering consumers a wide variety of phones at competitive prices.

However, in the last one year, the industry had been on a sleeping mode due to economic crisis and the ban on imports. The assembly plants of many brands were closed down because of unavailability of spare parts.

Things are now coming back to normal, with the expectation of a tough competition among different smartphone brands. “I like competition among different brands as we want everything in this ecosystem to go ahead. We are not competing on prices only, we are also competing on providing better options for users as we are in the business of empowering consumers,” Raza added.

The company management believes that they will have to showcase their strength through providing cutting-edge technology in their new devices.

“Tecno is a global company with presence in 70 countries, which is revolutionising things at the digital end. We are a hi-tech company, working tirelessly to promote the perfect integration of authentic design as well as latest technology,” Raza said.

The company has launched a 5G-enabled smartphone under its local flagship Camon series and is ready to launch the global flagship series ‘Phantom’, a flip mobile device, in Pakistan. “We are providing mobile phones for different target audience ranging from younger audience to gaming enthusiastic, all at much competitive prices,” he said.

Talking about online sales, Raza said that shifting of sales towards online platforms in Pakistan is not that significant as it is a cultural preference that people like to go to markets and first check the device.

“In Pakistan, we still have a gap where people would like to go and experience the product before buying. This is unanimous with other industries; we are at an initial stage of online industry, where infrastructure needs to be improved, with an effective crackdown on different fraudulent activities.”

Published in The Express Tribune, October 13^th, 2023.

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