Mobile handsets, equipment imports decline in August

The import of mobile handsets has registered a decline and reached $60 million (Rs 6.1 billion in August 2015 as compared with $66.7 million (Rs 6.6 billion) recorded during the same month last year.

The equipment for network up-gradation also showed a sharp decline in imports by a whopping 36 per cent during the reported month.

According to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, in Jul-Aug 2015, overall imports of handsets dropped by 8 percent standing at $105 million (Rs 10.7 billion) compared with previous year’s same period in which it stood at $115 million (Rs 11.4 billion).

Imports of mobile handsets may recover their growth in a few months due to introduction of various handsets in the local market along with competition among brands but the ongoing growth in smart phone could get curtailed by 8-10 per cent due to new taxes that were introduced this year.

Imports of mobile apparatus also showed a drop of 36 percent which has been portrayed as a slowdown in activities of mobile phone companies for upgrading their network for introducing Next Generation Technologies in different cities.

Figures revealed that imports of mobile apparatus decreased to $55 million (Rs 5.6 billion) in August 2015, down from $87 million (Rs 8.7 billion) in August 2014.

In Jul-Aug 2015, overall imports of telecom equipment declined by 46 percent to stand at $87.8 million (Rs 8.9 billion) as against the previous year’s $164 million (Rs 16.3 billion).

According to analysts, the imports expense of mobile phone companies have further increased after depreciation of rupee against dollar, the present downward trend in imports of infrastructure is likely to persist in coming months.