Xiaomi to start manufacturing smartphone devices in Pakistan

The Chinese smartphone giant and the world’s second largest manufacturer, Xiaomi, is planning to manufacture smartphones in Pakistan in partnership with Airlink Communications, revealed a material disclosure statement filed in the Pakistan Stock Exchange.

“Xiaomi, the global consumer electronics & smartphone giant, has joined hands with Select Technologies (Pvt) Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Air Link Communication Limited, as its manufacturing partner for Xiaomi mobile phones in Pakistan,” reads the statement.

The news was also confirmed by Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood. In a Twitter post, Razak said that ‘Made in Pakistan’ policy is showing positive results as Xiaomi will start manufacturing smartphones in Pakistan.

As per Dawood’s tweet, the production facility would be established at Quaid-e-Azam Industrial Estate, Lahore, and initially, 2.5 to 3 million handsets will be produced per year. “The production facility will become functional in January 2022 and it will create 3,000 direct and indirect jobs,” he remarked.

The initial production will be 2.5 to 3 Million handsets annually. The production facility will be established in Quaid E Azam Industrial Estate, Lahore. The production facility will be functional in Jan 2022 and it will create 3000 direct/indirect jobs.@Xiaomi @aliya_hamza

— Abdul Razak Dawood (@razak_dawood) November 2, 2021

“The manufacturing of these smartphones will approximately contribute $450 million annually to revenue”, Airlink projected these figures in their statement. “The production facility will be located adjacent to Air Link’s existing state-of-the-art mobile manufacturing facility at the Quaid-e-Azam Industrial Estate, Kot Lakhpat Lahore,” read the statement.

The company had last month announced that it will incorporate a wholly-owned subsidiary “Select Technologies (Pvt) Limited, whose primary objective would be to take on additional mobile device manufacturing of certain selected brand(s)”.

Select will be the manufacturing partner whereas Air Link will continue to be one of the largest distributors of Xiaomi phones in Pakistan. “Courtesy the manufacturing of Xiaomi phones by Select, Air Link expects to substantially increase its distribution and retail business of Xiaomi phones in Pakistan,” it said.