I have someone I know working there too and from what I know, they have recruited a lot of people in recent times
Very good steps. Keeping good jobs in Bangladesh will help spend these incomes locally. One good job indirectly employs a dozen indigent people...
12:00 AM, April 03, 2018 / LAST MODIFIED: 02:55 PM, April 03, 2018
Firms gearing up to make smartphones locally
Muhammad Zahidul Islam
Locally assembled 4G-enabled smartphones are set to hit the market in a few months' time after seven firms have applied to the telecom regulator to set up plants.
One of the seven firms is the world's largest smartphone maker, Samsung, which will officially announce the development of its plant in Narsingdi in a press conference in Dhaka today.
The South Korean electronics giant has teamed up with local Fair Electronics for the project and will start commercial production within May, said the top official of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission quoting the company's plan.
Both Samsung Bangladesh and Fair Electronics declined to comment on their plan.
But sources said the plant will assemble only 4G-enabled handsets and will gradually turn the factory into a full-fledged manufacturing plant. It has an initial target of assembling 50 lakh units a year.
Samsung will be joined by four others within a couple of months, while the other two plan to join the bandwagon soon, according to entrepreneurs.
The firms that have applied to the BTRC for approval said they would be able to cater 20 to 30 percent of the local demand for high-end phones initially.
Last year, Bangladesh imported Tk 10,000 crore worth of devices, meaning the local assembly will give the firms a Tk 2,000 crore to Tk 3,000 crore market share within a year, said Rezwanul Haque, a former general secretary of the Bangladesh Mobile Phone Importers Association.
“Our market has already become big and it is growing. So, we need to have the capability to cater to the market with our own products,” said Haque, also the chief executive officer of Transsion Bangladesh.
Transsion Bangladesh, the local chapter of a Chinese mobile phone maker, is developing a plant in Gazipur with a view to assembling 5 lakh units per month. The plant will go into commercial production by the end of May.
The local assembly will also help grow a good number of backward linkage industries in the days to come.
The backward linkage industries will manufacture batteries, chargers, headphones, mobile covers and other accessories, according to Haque.
In October last year, Walton became the first company in Bangladesh to set up an assembly plant for smartphones. Aamra Holdings, another local firm, also received a provisional licence and set up the plant.
It will begin commercial production at the end of Ramadan and will go for a soft launch in June, said AM Ehsan-ul Haque, chief operating officer for the smart solutions division at the company. Local market leader Symphony is seeking to set up a plant in Gazipur, a senior official of the company said.
Symphony is eying to launch its products ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr set to be celebrated in the middle of June.
Daffodil and Lava have also applied to the BTRC for licences to start assembling. Vendors said the local assembly would cut the prices of handsets by 10 percent to 20 percent.
Last year, the BTRC finalised a guideline to encourage manufacturing and assembling of handsets in Bangladesh. The government also slashed customs duty for mobile parts by 24 percentage points to 1 percent. There is about 30 percent tax on the imports of finished mobile devices.
“So, assembling of handsets will be very profitable according to the new tax structure. That's why both local and global players are showing interests,” said an official of the BTRC.
According to the regulator, some of the companies are even targeting to export devices which will make Bangladesh a mobile handset exporting nation from an importing one. Last year, Bangladesh imported 3.34 crore units of handsets, according to the BMPIA. Besides, 50 lakh handsets enter the country illegally every year.
The government said the scope to set up the manufacturing or assembly plants will provide local entrepreneurs the opportunity to invest in technology and create jobs.
_________________________________________________________________
12:00 AM, March 05, 2018 / LAST MODIFIED: 12:42 PM, March 05, 2018
JUST IN
Walton releases new 4G handset with face unlock feature
Walton has released its new 4G enabled smartphone Primo S6 infinity which features face unlock technology to provide maximum security of the device along with a back fingerprint scanner.The five-finger multi-touch smartphone bears a 5.5-Inch in-cell HD plus18:9 full-view IPS display with 2.5D curved glass. Runs on Android 8.0 Oreo operating system, the device is powered by a 64-bit 1.3 GHz Quad-core processor and comes with 3 GB RAM and Mali-T720 GPU. It sports 32 GB of internal storage, which can be further expanded upto 256 GB via a microSD card. It also
sports a 13MP rear camera with f/2.0 aperture, PDAF support, LED flash, 5P lens and BSI sensor. Its 8MP front facing camera with f/2.2 aperture, soft LED flash, 4p lens and BSI sensor ensures best selfies. Rear camera can capture full HD (1920X1080 pixel) while the front HD (1280X720 pixel) videos. Powered by a 3000 mAh battery, the 8.1mm slim smartphone weighs only 146 grams.
Price: Tk. 16,990/-
------------------------------------------------------------------------
‘Assembling Xiaomi phones in Bangladesh can cut costs sharply’
Dewan Kanon, CEO of Solar Electro Bangladesh Ltd.
Xiaomi aims to provide high quality 4G smartphones to Bangladeshi customers at an affordable price to enjoy the fourth generation network. Dewan Kanon, CEO of Solar Electro Bangladesh Ltd, sole distributor of the Xiaomi handset brand, sat down with the Dhaka Tribune ’s Ibrahim Hossain Ovi to discuss goals and strategies in Bangladesh
Bangladesh joins the 4G club. What are your plans for the 4G handset?
We are one of those rare global brands in Bangladesh that makes smartphones which are 4G compliant. So, Xiaomi is a proud member of the 4G club. We are very excited as our “Mi fans” (short for Xiaomi fans) will be able to experience the 4G network on their Xiaomi smartphones.
How do you meet customer demands at a reasonable price?
I believe our cost effective and unique marketing strategy along with strategic market expansion and a strong distribution network are our key strength to control smartphones prices. At Xiaomi, we always prioritize the needs of our Mi fans and we treat them as our brand ambassadors. We want to offer our smartphones at more affordable prices but due to Bangladesh’s high import duties, we cannot bring down prices further. Regardless, we are still offering our devices at reasonable prices.
Do you have plans to assemble smartphones in Bangladesh in collaboration with the parent company?
Xiaomi already has assembly facilities in India, the second largest smartphone market in the world. We can now sell Xiaomi smartphones in India at very affordable prices which is the core philosophy of Xiaomi. We want to ensure the same facility in Bangladesh for Mi fans, as the country is emerging and has the potential for growth in the smartphone market.
What are the challenges in doing business here?
There are two major challenges we face in Bangladesh. One, high import duties on smartphones. Second, illegal Xiaomi products are available everywhere in Bangladesh and the government is not taking proper steps to stop or minimize that and ensure security for legal importers and distributors who are paying thousands in import duties every month. Consumers are suffering and not getting quality smartphones. Currently, illegal handsets are being imported in parts as well, downgrading the quality of the phones.
How do you plan to grab a greater market share in Bangladesh?
Xiaomi’s philosophy is to offer quality smartphones and accessories at affordable prices. We are working simultaneously to offer amazing devices from Xiaomi at reasonable prices and already have a tremendous response from Bangladeshi Mi fans. We are looking to expand the Mi store and service centres in 2018. Besides, we have an amazing product lineup in 2018 for all Mi fans – all our smartphones have very powerful hardware. As 4G is hitting the market, it is a good opportunity for us to grab market share so that when consumers look for quality 4G smartphones at the most affordable prices, Xiaomi comes first on their priority list. I strongly believe, by the end of this year, Xiaomi will have a significant market share in Bangladesh.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
02:34 PM, April 03, 2018 / LAST MODIFIED: 06:02 PM, April 03, 2018
Samsung phones to be assembled in Bangladesh
Commercial assembling work of 4G-enabled handsets will begin from May 2, Ruhul Alam Al-Mahbud chairman of Fair Group, the local company, says on Tuesday, April 3, 2018. Photo: STAR
Star Online Report
Samsung will be assembling its
smartphones in Bangladesh, the first batch of which is expected to come out in the market before Eid-ul-Fitr in June.
Commercial assembling work of 4G-enabled handsets will begin from May second week, RuhulAlam Al-Mahbud chairman of Fair Group, the local company, said.
The company has already set up an assembling plant in Narsingdi. RuhulAlam said: “Hopefully, we will be able to launch locally assembled Samsung smartphones before Eid.”
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wow - another piece of news!
12:00 AM, April 04, 2018 / LAST MODIFIED: 12:23 AM, April 04, 2018
Samsung Mobile: Locally made sets to hit market soon
Staff Correspondent
Consumers would be buying made-in-Bangladesh Samsung 4G phones ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr in June and they would be more affordable.
Samsung's local partner Fair Electronics Ltd yesterday inaugurated a new 58,000sqft manufacturing plant in Narsingdi that would be making the phones.
Initially, entry-level and mid-range phones would be built there and gradually higher end phones. All the parts for the phones would be provided by Samsung and it would also ensure quality.
The South Korean giant has eight phone plants across the globe and this will be its ninth state-of-the-art factory, said Ruhul Alam Al-Mahbud, chairman of Fair Group, at a press conference at the Dhaka Sonargaon Hotel yesterday.
“We want to create a new identity of Bangladesh as a mobile phone-producing and -exporting country,” said Mahbud.
From the second week of May, the plant would start production and before Eid, the devices would hit the market, said Mohammad Mesbah Uddin, chief marketing officer of Fair Electronics.
Managing Director Seungwon Youn of Samsung Electronics Bangladesh said the plant was part of their commitment to provide genuine and world-class Samsung products to Bangladesh.
“We are sure the range of Samsung 4G smartphones will help the country achieve its digitalisation goals as we move forward,” Youn said.
Samsung entered Bangladesh in 2009. It runs a research and development institute here that works on developing apps, business-to-business solutions and localisation.
The Narsingdi plant would be fully owned by Fair Electronics but Samsung would ensure device quality, said Muyeedur Rahman, head of mobile at Samsung.
Samsung sees a lot of demand for its smartphones in Bangladesh and the new plant would help to fulfil the demand, he said.
Without quality testing and without the lab's certification, no product would be released to the market, said Mesbah Uddin. “Through Samsung's quality testing, its global standards will be ensured.”
The price of a locally assembled device will definitely be significantly lower than that of the imported model, officials said.
Currently, there are 29.50 percent taxes on different segments of finished mobile device import. For importing parts and segregated equipment, the tax is between one and 10 percent.
“Definitely this tax benefit will be passed on to the customers but right now we cannot confirm how much the price will be reduced,” said Mesbah.
The three-line plant generated over 500 direct jobs and has the ability to produce a few lakh devices a month.
Bangladesh is one of the largest and fastest growing smartphone markets. Last year, the country imported Tk 10,000 crore worth of devices and 26 percent of them were Samsung devices, according to Bangladesh Mobile Phone Importers Association.
Other local and international players are also preparing for assembling phones in Bangladesh. So far, seven have sought permits from Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission.
Walton had declared production commencement from its local assembly plant in October. A small number of its locally made phones are in the market.
Aamra Holdings, another local firm, is setting up a plant aiming commercial production at the end of Ramadan.
Symphony is eyeing launch of its locally-made products ahead of Eid.
Transsion Bangladesh, the local chapter of a Chinese mobile phone maker, is also building a plant in Gazipur. The plant would go into commercial production by the end of May.
Daffodil and Lava have also sought BTRC licences to produce phones here.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
They don't need this many brands of locally made phones in Bangladesh. India market is about to be flooded with Bangladesh-assembled Chinese phones.
Makes one feel so happy.
