Import of mobile phones mounted by 100 percent during July this year, as the demand for low-cost multi-purposed Chinese handsets continued to grow, dealers said on Monday. Import of mobile phones has already outnumbered the country's total import of cellular phones because they are low-priced with high communication features, according to dealers at Karachi's mobile phone market in Saddar.
They said that handset accessories like batteries, chargers, hand-free gadgets, earphones, casings, etc, were also being imported from China, "although their quality is low but people prefer to buy these for their low cost". The country's import of mobile phones stood at 39.016 million dollars in July 2010 as compared to 19.591 million dollars in the same period of last fiscal year 2009, depicting an increase of 19.425 million dollars in July this year, according to official statistics. The import of cellular handsets in July 2010 also mounted by 26.42 percent as compared to mobile import of 30.861 million dollars in June 2010, according to statistics.
Dealers said that customers, who are frightened of mobile phone snatchers in the city, demand Chinese made handsets for their low cost besides their resale prospects in the markets are also low. "No one will go after buying the used Chinese mobile, as the new ones with high communication features, including internet browsing facilities, are already available in the range of Rs 4000 to Rs 5,000," they pointed out.
Chinese made mobile sets are also available as the second copy of the global recognised mobile phones with almost all such features, luring the low-income customers to buy them, particularly for music and video features, dealers said. However, they did not rule out that there was still, although a stagnant, demand for West-made mobile phones in the country despite Chinese ones had already flooded the markets.