NEW DELHI: Reduction in customs duty on smartphone components may not benefit consumers as industry experts believe chances are less that these devices get cheaper in the market. They said it would benefit companies, not to consumers.
“At this moment I see it as a chance to contain the costs if not reduce them for consumers. Should give some cushion to OEMs (Original equipment manufacturer) to look for bringing more 5G smartphones in the affordable segment,” said Faisal Kawoosa, founder and Chief Analyst at Techarc.
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, while presenting budget 2023 said to deepen domestic value addition in manufacture of mobile phones the government reduces customs duty on import of certain parts and inputs like camera lens and continue the concessional duty on lithium-ion cells for batteries for another year.
As per the budget document, the government reduced custom duty on import of camera lens and its input from 2.5% to nil. As per the government, mobile phone production in India has increased from 5.8 crore units valued at about Rs 18,900 crore in 2014-15 to 31 crore units valued at over Rs 2,75,000 crore in the last financial year.
“A lot of considerations, including brand strategy and macro-economic conditions among others, go into final pricing. Smartphone OEMs will be able to maintain fiscal prudence and debut new 5G device offerings into the market,” said Prabhu Ram, head - industry intelligence Group (IIG), CMR.
Budget cuts customs duty on import of certain parts
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in budget 2023-24 cut customs duty on import of certain parts and inputs like camera lens and continue concessional duty on lithium-ion cells for batteries for another year
Samsung India to make premium phones
NEW DELHI: Samsung, the South Korean technology company, is going to manufacture its premium Galaxy S23 smartphones in India to cater to the local market requirements. Currently, the comapny manufactures Galaxy S Series smartphones at Samsung’s Vietnam factory and then it imports these devices for sale in India. “All Galaxy S23 smartphones sold in the country will be manufactured at the company’s Noida factory. Samsung already fulfils a majority of the domestic demand in the country through local manufacturing at the Noida factory,” said the company in a statement. The company on Wednesday launched three models of Galaxy S23 series smartphones.