Handset import rises 10pc despite duty hike
Handset imports rose 9.6 percent to 3.4 crore units last year despite a spike of 5 percentage points in import duty.
However, the number of smartphones brought in to the country did not increase as expected because of the import duty spike, said the Bangladesh Mobile Phone Importers Association (BMPIA).
Given the advent of 4G services and greater use of digital services, the industry was expecting that more than one crore units of smartphones would be imported in 2017. But, 82 lakhs were brought in through the legal channel, which is 23.5 percent of the total imports. In 2016, smartphones accounted for about 26 percent of the total imports.
"Definitely over-taxation is holding the industry back from flourishing," said Ruhul Alam Al Mahbub Manik, president of the BMPIA.
With the view to promoting local manufacturing, the government in June last year raised the import duty for handsets to 31 percent.
The move might have spurred more illegal handset imports, Manik said, while citing the number of Samsung devices and iPhones on sale in local markets to further his point.
About 40 percent of the Samsung devices on sale were not imported by BMPIA members, he said.
In 2017, mobile phone importers contributed about Tk 1,500 crore to the national exchequer by way of different kinds of taxes, according to the BMPIA, which has 70 members, 20 of whom are importers. "But, we must laud the government for changing its focus to local manufacturing," said Manik, who owns Fair Distribution, an authorised importer of Samsung devices.
Two local brands -- Walton and aamra -- have already started local assembling of handsets; some other local and international players are keenly watching the developments.
The value of the imported devices -- Tk 9,500 crore --also marked an 18.75 percent year-on-year increase.
Symphony became the top importer in terms of volume, which was about 30 percent of the total. In terms of value, it came in second; its imports accounted for 21 percent of the total.
South Korean mobile giant Samsung accounted for 26 percent of the import value in 2017 and 14 percent in terms of volume.
The third position in terms of value and volume belonged to Huawei: 13 percent and 9 percent respectively.
Chinese manufacturer Transsion Holdings, which launched its handset brand itel in Bangladesh in the second half of last year, accounted for 5 percent of the total import volume.
Handsets with price tags ranging from Tk 3,000 to Tk 6,000 were the best sellers last year, according to BMPIA.
Industry insiders hope to see a 30 percent rise in smartphone usage in 2018.