Local mobile phone brand, Symphony has eyed to export smartphone by 2020 with “truly” Made in Bangladesh tag, reports BSS. To this end, the brand is working to expand their existing plant’s capacity along with setting up of another two plants, one is adjacent to existing one while another at Bangabandhu Hi-Tech City in Kaliakair, Gazipur.
“By 2022, the new two plants are expected to go to production and we will start export after meeting local demand,” said Jakaria Shahid, Managing Director of Edison Group, the parent company of Symphony brand. Symphony is assembling about 1.5 lakh pieces smart phones in a month in their existing plant, located in Ashulia, outskirts of Dhaka and has beenmeeting local demand from June last year.
“We are also assembling about 1.25 lakh pieces of feature of phone in amonth and planning to stop importing it at the end of this year,” said Jakaria Shahid. Shahid, also the general secretary of the Bangladesh Mobile Phone Importers Association (BMPIA), however, said with the locally assembled, they are also importing few lakh pieces of basic phones every month from China to meet demand.
“We have stopped importing smartphone from last June and our target is to meet the full local demand from our own plant, which is about seven to eight lakh every month, by December this year,” he disclosed this to the members of Telecom Reporters’ Network Bangladesh (TRNB) who visited and experienced their smart phone manufacturing plant yesterday.
Symphony is holding about 30 percent market share in terms of volume that were more than 40 percent only few years back. It is also planning to assemble mobile accessories in one plant. Edison Group’s total investment value is about Taka 100 crore for three plants and is trying to create the total value chain for mobile assembling in the market where all the working people have been recruited locally and that is why they are saying “truly” Made in Bangladesh.
“We will develop software, develop necessary applications and games for mobile sets, and plans to manufacture about two lakh pieces of accessories in these plants,” Shahid added. The Edison Group’s plant is now adding 20 percent value to their product and aiming to add value up to 30 percent by next five years.
