Walton’s smartphones, ACs set sail for US and India
Walton yesterday kicked off exports of air conditioner and smartphones to India and the US respectively, in a development that can be viewed as just one more feather in the cap for the trailblazing home-grown electronics giant.
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal flagged off the shipments in a ceremony held at the premises of Walton Digi-Tech Industries in Chandra, Gazipur.
Posts and Telecom Minister Mustafa Jabbar and ICT State Minister Zunaid Ahmed Palak were also present at the ceremony.
The dignitaries also inaugurated various projects and products of Walton Hi-Tech Industries: the country's first lift manufacturing facility, all-in-one PC manufacturing facility and Walton TV's own operating system ROS.
The twelve-monthly production capacity of the newly built elevator factory is approximately 1,000 units. The plant helps you to save the country huge sums of foreign currency.
Currently, the country needs about 5,000 elevators, with the total amount expected to increase given the rate of which high-rise buildings are sprouting, according to Walton.
So, Walton plans to set up another unit for lift manufacturing.
The ministers also visited various production plants at the campus, including those of refrigerators, compressors, televisions, ac units, cell phones, computers, laptops, kitchen appliances and electric appliances.
Kamal praised Walton for breeding a technological industry and asked the company to take forward the existing government's political mandate of Digital Bangladesh.
The Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority also took the occasion to declare Walton High-Tech Industries an exclusive hi-tech park, a move that could enable the local business group to get additional tax advantages from the government. It will also get electricity on important basis.
Walton will be the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) of the smartphones, which, however, would carry an American brand's name.
This would be first-time that smartphones, which are complex products, be entering the export basket that's populated by garment, pharmaceuticals, fish, leather and jute products.
Walton was the first ever to set up a cellular phone manufacturing plant in Bangladesh in October 2017.
Since that time, the assembly line has churned out 60 lakh handsets, which 17 lakh were smartphones.
Walton meets its entire demand from local production and since 2018 has stopped importing handset completely.
Currently, the plant's production capacity is 8 lakh smartphone and 20 lakh feature phone per month.
Beside handsets, Walton also manufactures mobile phone accessories such as for example chargers, batteries, earphones, cases, printed circuit boards, USB cables and meets its entire demand from local production.
Currently, it manufactures 10 lakh chargers, 5-6 lakh batteries and more than 6 lakh earphones. However, its production capacity is double of what it really is currently manufacturing.
Walton currently exports a multitude of products to different countries after meeting local demands.
Walton Hi-Tech Industries Chairman SM Nurul Alam Rezvi, Vice-chairman SM Shamsul Alam, Managing Director SM Ashraful Alam, Director SM Mahbubul Alam; Walton Digi-Tech Industries Chairman SM Rezaul Alam, MD SM Monjurul Alam; Walton Group Director Tahmina Afrose Tanna, Raisa Sigma Hima and Rifah Tasnia Swarna were present.
