Will mobile phone prices rise again from July?
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 such as Apple, Google, Huawei, Motorola, Samsung and Xiaomi cannot be commercially manufactured locally because of complex supply chains, specialised 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 the government loses revenue every year as a result.
To curb this trend, BTRC announced the launch of the National Equipment Identity Register (NEIR) earlier this year, aiming to bring grey-market phones under regulation.
At the same time, the government reduced import duties to make officially imported phones more affordable. The idea was that narrowing the price gap between legal and illegal handsets would encourage consumers to purchase officially imported devices.
However, the expected impact has not materialised. Even before the duty reduction took effect, prices of various smartphone brands had already increased by between Tk 500 and Tk 5,000, with traders citing rising global memory chip prices.
