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Bangladesh begins making smartphones at Walton plant

bd_4_ever

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Walton has launched the first smartphone plant in Bangladesh aiming to produce up to 3 million handsets every year.


“It’s a historic day for the country,” State Minister for Posts and Telecommunications Tarana Halim said after inaugurating the unit at Chandra in Gazipur on Thursday.

“A new chapter of Digital Bangladesh has opened through the launch of the plant,” she said.

Tarana praised Walton for “being the partner in achieving Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s dream of having Bangladesh listed as a smartphone maker”.

The state minister said the company set up the factory by fulfilling the standards set by Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission or BTRC for making handsets.

“They (Walton) are fully ready to fulfil the commitment to take Bangladesh forward in technology. Now we must make their progress smooth.”

She hoped Walton smartphones would do well in the competition with foreign brands and reach foreign markets, and urged the firm to reach the people by producing smartphones with affordable price and payment services.

Walton Hi-Tech Industries Limited Chairman SM Shamsul Alam, and Walton Digi-Tech Industries Limited Chairman SM Rezaul Alam and Managing Director SM Monjurul Alam, among other top Walton officials, were present at the function.

The state minister visited the production line, surface-mounting technology unit for making printed circuit board or motherboard, design development department, research and analysis department, quality-control department and testing lab established in the around 50,000-square-feet factory.

The plant, set up with Japanese and German technologies, has created around 1,000 jobs.

Foreign engineers will also work along with Bangladeshis at the product development and research departments.

BTRC Chairman Shahjahan Mahmood also attended the function.

https://bdnews24.com/business/2017/10/05/bangladesh-begins-making-smartphones-at-walton-plant
 
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The state minister visited the production line, surface-mounting technology unit for making printed circuit board

This is the critical part. SMD pick and place (also design) for local circuit board manufacture which does away with the need for extra lead time and sourcing difficulties from overseas manufacturers for cellphone circuit boards.

Don't know if Indian or Pakistani cell phone companies have invested in this already.

Maybe some Indian or Pakistani forum members can confirm...
 
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There's a huge local demand and market for smartphones in Bangladesh. They can definitely overtake some of the foreign competitors like oppo/symphony etc.
 
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There's a huge local demand and market for smartphones in Bangladesh. They can definitely overtake some of the foreign competitors like oppo/symphony etc.

I thought Symphony was Bangladeshi brand too - or is it from India?
 
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This is the critical part. SMD pick and place (also design) for local circuit board manufacture which does away with the need for extra lead time and sourcing difficulties from overseas manufacturers for cellphone circuit boards.

Don't know if Indian or Pakistani cell phone companies have invested in this already.

Maybe some Indian or Pakistani forum members can confirm...
Silicon being printed in house but what about SoCs? Are they snapdragon or some other variant? And does Walton phone use stock android or they have some stanky dank *** rom of their own?

There's a huge local demand and market for smartphones in Bangladesh. They can definitely overtake some of the foreign competitors like oppo/symphony etc.
Symphony, yes. OPPO would be difficult. It's too big compared to Walton.
 
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Looks like Walton is set to become the first company in South Asia to produce smartphones. Way to go!

Think its Chinese, but they have a huge market in Bangladesh, probably their biggest.

Symphony is a Bangladeshi brand but their phones are made in China. They are currently the market leader with about 30-40% market share.
 
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Silicon being printed in house but what about SoCs? Are they snapdragon or some other variant? And does Walton phone use stock android or they have some stanky dank *** rom of their own?

SoC's may not warrant local fabrication in Bangladesh because the sunk-costs to set up a Fab are super high compared to demand from a few SoC user OEM brands. Maybe in the future when a lot of value-added electronics are made locally. But not right now, based on simple cellphone demand. Heck - even India does not have active commercial Fabs (maybe a few research Fabs), and look at the demand for cellphones there.

Almost all Fabs for SoC's are going to be based in either China or Taiwan in a few years, if not already so. Walton may use SnapDragon for higher end phones or for lower-end phones, a second rate SoC supplier (these exist).

I don't think anyone uses Stock Android anymore, Walton may use someone else's (China) secondary layer over stock.

Symphony, yes. OPPO would be difficult. It's too big compared to Walton.

Yes - China is a huge market and OPPO is one of the leading brands there...

Looks like Walton is set to become the first company in South Asia to produce smartphones. Way to go!



Symphony is a Bangladeshi brand but their phones are made in China. They are currently the market leader with about 30-40% market share.

That's what I thought. Symphony is an assembler of Chinese bulk parts, like the majority of brands in the Indian market.
 
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What level of incentive govt has provided to Walton????
 
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