Local phone assembly falls 14 percent in August as 5G output drops

Mobile phone makers in Pakistan assembled 1.66 million handsets in August 2026, down 14 percent from a year earlier. Profit reported the figures on 1 October, based on data from the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority.

Output was also 57 percent lower than in July. Profit said July had been lifted by buyers who held off purchases ahead of the FY27 budget. Even so, local factories supplied 95 percent of demand in August, against 97 percent in July. Imports were 80,000 phones, down 69 percent on a year earlier and 27 percent on the month.

For the first eight months of the year, local plants made 18.66 million units, 6 percent fewer than the 19.77 million in the same period of 2025. Local production covered 87 percent of demand over that stretch. According to TechJuice, about 8 million of the handsets were smartphones and about 11 million were basic 2G phones.

5G handsets lag the network

The weakest number is for 5G. TechJuice reported that 134,501 5G enabled handsets were assembled in August, compared with 553,079 in August 2025. That comes months after Jazz and Zong began commercial 5G services in March.

The largest assemblers over the eight months, per Profit, were VGO Tel with 2.45 million units, Infinix with 1.96 million, Itel with 1.56 million and Tecno with 1.14 million. Samsung made 1.01 million, Vivo and Nokia 970,000 each, Club Mobile 720,000, X Mobile 700,000 and Q Mobile 630,000.

TechJuice also reported that mobile phone imports in July and August fell 8.85 percent to $274.1 million, while telecom equipment imports rose almost 9 percent to $432 million. For hardware startups and app makers, the figures show a market served almost entirely by local assembly, but one where cheaper phones still dominate.

Reported from coverage in Profit by Pakistan Today and TechJuice, both citing PTA data.