KARACHI: The import of mobile phones into the country declined by 18 per cent to $198 million in July-October.
Their imports clocked up at $753m in 2015-16 after increasing 4.15pc from a year ago, official figures show.
The overall share of smartphones in total imports of mobile phones is around 40pc. The import of smartphones has not seen a significant increase since the introduction of 3G and 4G services. Out of 134m mobile phone subscribers, about 32m subscribe to 3G. The number of 4G and LTE users is 1.71m and 577,275, respectively.
In October, the share of smartphones in total imports dropped to 37pc from 43pc in March. The bar phone share rose to 63pc in October from 57pc in March. Total sales have remained more or less 1.4m sets per month March onwards. Mr Khan said a number of customers still cannot afford a smartphone worth more than Rs25,000.
