ZCZC
BSS-39
MOBILE-HANDSET-GROWTH
Counterfeit mobile handsets push industry downward: BMPIA
DHAKA, Nov 27, 2018 (BSS) – Bangladesh Mobile Phone Importers’ Association
(BMPIA) today claimed that mobile business was getting a huge setback due to
illegal import of handsets and counterfeit sets, which also pushed the
industry’s growth downwards for the first time.
The association estimated that the government incurred a total revenue loss
of Taka 4,000 crore as more than 40 percent of handsets were imported
illegally during January to September.
“Illegal import of handsets was there in the past, but in recent time this
became a threat to our business directly,” BMPIA president Md Ruhul Alam Al
Mahbub told a press conference at a city hotel today.
Mentioning that in 2017, the industry imported 3.44 crore unit handsets, he
predicted that the number would come down to less than three crore for this
year.
Most of Xiaomi and iPhone branded smartphone enter the market illegally
and Samsung also facing this challenge, said Mahbub, who is also chairman of
Fair Group, a distributor of Samsung mobile phone.
“A total of 35 percent Samsung smartphone come into the market illegally
through airports and land ports,” he said.
According to BMPIA, illegal import increased by 43 percent to Taka 4,000
crore this year, which was roughly Taka 3,000 last year,” said its joint
secretary Mohammed Meshah Uddin.
“Many shops in the capital, including Bashundhara City, Jamuna Future Park,
Motalib Plaza, and Eastern Plaza, sell illegally-imported smartphones. Even
many online shops are selling so-called refurbished smartphones,” he added.
BMPIA leaders pointed out the poor quality 4G network for their poor
sales.
They urged the government to reduce supplementary duty from 10 percent to 5
percent.
“If the government gives us support, we can assemble the entire country’s
demand within couple of years,” said Jakaria Shahid, managing director of
Edison Group, the parent company of local handset brand Symphony.
BSS/PR/MAK/MRI/2130 hrs