Xiaomi, the Chinese smartphone and electronics company, aims to produce smartphones in Pakistan, according to a material disclosure statement filed with the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Monday by its local partner, Air Link Communication Limited.
“Xiaomi, the global consumer electronics and smartphone powerhouse, has partnered with Select Technologies (Pvt) Limited, an Air Link Communication Limited wholly-owned subsidiary, as its manufacturing partner for Xiaomi smartphones in Pakistan,” according to the announcement.
Air Link stated the previous month that it will form a wholly-owned subsidiary called “Select Technologies (Pvt) Limited.”
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Air Link has indicated, “The major purpose of this wholly-owned entity would be to take on more mobile device production of specific selected brand(s).”
Air Link expects to produce 2.5-3 million phones per year at first, which “will have a meaningful additive impact on the firm’s profits per share other than the regular course of business,” according to the firm.
According to the corporation, the manufacture of these devices would bring in about $450 million in income every year.
According to the release, “the production facility would be placed close to Air Link’s current state-of-the-art mobile manufacturing plant at the Quaid-e-Azam Industrial Estate, Kot Lakhpat Lahore.”
The manufacturing plant is anticipated to open in January 2022.
Select will be the manufacturing partner, while Air Link will remain one of the top Xiaomi phone distributors in Pakistan.
“As a result of Select’s Xiaomi phone production, Air Link plans to greatly boost its Xiaomi phone sales and retail operations in Pakistan,” it stated.
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According to Canalys, a research organization, Xiaomi’s share of the worldwide smartphone market increased by 83 percent year over year in the quarter ending in June.
According to research published in Business Recorder, Xiaomi delivered 52.8 million phones over this time period, making it the third most popular smartphone brand in the world, following Samsung and Apple.
Air Link has opened multiple retail locations in Pakistan and is the country’s only completely vertically integrated distributor of foreign smartphone brands, according to a company release.
According to the statement, “it is one of Pakistan’s major distributors for Samsung, Apple, Huawei, Xiaomi, Itel, Techno, TCL, and Alcatel.”