Pakistan drafts mobile policy targeting 50pc local value addition

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Industries and Production is drafting a new Mobile Device Manufacturing Policy that would push domestic value addition in handset production to as much as 50 percent, according to an official document, up from an estimated 10 to 20 percent at present.

The proposed policy is intended to move the industry past import-dependent assembly and towards local component manufacturing, building on the investment drawn in by the Mobile Device Manufacturing Policy 2020-2023, which helped establish domestic and foreign-invested assembly plants in the country. Under the plan, localisation would be raised in stages through the development of component suppliers and a supporting industrial base, alongside technology transfer.

The mobile policy is one of several sector-specific plans the ministry is working on, alongside the automotive industry, battery energy storage systems and other engineering sectors. The aim across them is to cut reliance on imported components.

The numbers show how far assembly has already displaced finished imports. Local plants produced 20.08 million handsets in January-September 2026, against 2.85 million units imported commercially, according to official data. The locally made total included roughly eight million smartphones and 12 million 2G phones.

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority data shows smartphones now account for 71 percent of active devices on local networks, with 2G handsets making up the remaining 29 percent.

The import bill has fallen accordingly. Mobile phone imports dropped 16.6 percent in dollar terms in the first quarter of fiscal 2026-27 to $417.24 million, from about $500.01 million a year earlier. In September 2026 alone, imports rose 7.1 percent month-on-month to $143.14 million from $133.66 million in August, but were still 28.2 percent below the $199.27 million of September 2025. In rupees, the September bill was Rs39.75 billion, seven percent above August's Rs37.17 billion but 29.2 percent below Rs56.17 billion a year earlier. For July-September, the cumulative bill was Rs116.01 billion, down 18 percent from Rs141.42 billion.

Production rankings have also shifted. VGO TEL became the largest assembler in January-September 2026 with 2.50 million units, overtaking Infinix at 1.96 million and Itel at 1.59 million. TECNO followed at 1.16 million, Samsung at 1.04 million, Vivo at 0.99 million and Nokia at 0.97 million. China Mobile made 0.72 million, X Mobile 0.71 million and G'FIVE 0.64 million. Infinix had led in 2024 with 3.98 million units, ahead of Itel's 3.64 million and VGO TEL's 3.37 million, and again in 2025 with 3.65 million, narrowly ahead of VGO TEL's 3.57 million. The 2026 figures cover nine months; the earlier figures are full calendar years.

The document indicates the policy's success will hinge on a competitive local component supply chain and on attracting investment in higher-value manufacturing. The sustainability of the assembly boom more broadly, it adds, will depend on consumer demand, access to imported parts, exchange-rate stability and whether local assemblers can hold competitive prices.