Over the past decade, Bangladesh has developed a mobile phone assembly and manufacturing industry. Local factories mainly assemble low- and mid-range handsets.
However, industry insiders say many premium models from brands like Apple, Google, Huawei, Motorola, Samsung and Xiaomi cannot be commercially manufactured locally due to complex supply chains, specialized components and limited market demand.
Both ‘official’ and ‘unofficial’ mobile phones are sold in Bangladesh. Consumers are often more attracted to unofficial handsets because they are relatively cheaper, although this results in lost revenue for the government every year.
To curb this trend, BTRC earlier this year announced the launch of the National Equipment Identity Register (NEIR), which aims to bring grey-market phones under regulation.
Also, the government officially reduced the import duty to make imported phones more affordable. The idea was that reducing the price gap between legitimate and illegal handsets would encourage consumers to purchase officially imported devices.
However, the expected effect has not occurred. Even before the duty cut came into effect, prices of various smartphone brands had risen by Rs 500 to Rs 5,000, with traders citing rising global memory chip prices.