Smartphone imports fall for the first time
Smartphone imports declined more than 9 percent year-on-year to 37.89 lakh units in the first half of the year on the back of a drastic fall in the arrival of lower-end devices amid higher tariffs.
This is the first time that smartphone imports declined, at a time when the consumption of digital content on the go is on the rise.
“This is quite surprising,” said Rezwanul Haque, a former general secretary of the Bangladesh Mobile Phone Importers Association (BMPIA).
During the period, handset imports fell 11.02 percent year-on-year to 1.55 crore units, according to a report of the BMPIA.
The 33 percent duty on handset imports from fiscal 2017-18 accounts for the decline mostly, said Mohammad Mesbah Uddin, joint secretary of the BMPIA.
“Besides, subscribers are not finding 3G or 4G networks attractive,” said Mesbah, also the chief marketing officer of Fair Electronics, which imports Samsung phones.
Smartphones that are priced less than Tk 6,000 a unit witnessed negative growth of about 21 percent, the highest among all the segments, according to the BMPIA report.
Conversely, import of smartphones that cost more than Tk 10,000 grew 12 percent.
The markets for counterfeit and locally refurbished handsets are booming and these factors have played a part for the unexpected negative growth, he added.
Mahmud Hossain, chief corporate affairs officer of Grameenphone, said they are not happy with the internet industry's overall performance.
“It is true that the number of internet connections went up noticeably, but the overall internet usage has not increased over the years as expected. Besides, the high tax on imported handsets has had an impact,” he said.
The operators launched 4G technology in the third week of February this year.
People have just started to do their work using mobile internet and when the number of 4G users goes up, people's lives will be more digital-friendly, Hossain added. “Now, we need to bring down the handset prices so that common people can own them and access digital services easily,” he added. At the end of June, there were 8.20 crore active internet connections in the country, while active mobile phone connections stood at 15.09 crore, according to the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission.
