Symphony has started preparations to set up its second mobile assembly plant at Bangabandhu Hi-Tech City in Kaliakair, Gazipur within a year to make devices for other brands and export markets.
Last week the leading handset maker in Bangladesh signed a deal with Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority (BHTPA) to this effect, said Zakaria Shahid, managing director of Edison Group, the parent company of Symphony.
The BHTPA has allocated 5.16 acres of land to Symphony and the firm has started working to establish the plant at the end of 2019, he added.
Symphony received the land for 40 years at an annual fee of $2 per square metre.
According to the plan shared with the BHTPA, Symphony will assemble mobile handsets to export those to Africa and later to the Middle East after meeting domestic demand.
The brand also plans to assemble devices for other local brands at the plant, Shahid said.
Hosne Ara Begum, managing director of the BHTPA, said, “We handed over the land to Symphony yesterday and we found that the company is very positive.”
Earlier, the park authority allocated land to nine local and foreign companies for manufacturing hi-tech products in the city, a project which will receive an investment of about $150 million and create 25,000 new jobs.
Meanwhile, the initial lot of the smartphones assembled at Symphony's first plant is set to be made available in the market from today. Some 50,000 units are ready to be marketed, said Shahid.
“We are very happy with the plant's performance.”
The first plant, set up in Ashulia, has a capacity to assemble 5 lakh handsets every month if it runs a single shift and the production will double in case of two shifts.
Symphony officials said the company has invested Tk 25 crore for the first plant and put aside another Tk 75 crore for the second plant and the expansion of the first one.
Symphony holds 30 percent share in the market and sells 9 to 10 lakh handsets every month.
Local assembly drew increased attention after the government extended tax benefits in 2017-18.
So far, seven companies have established plants and four of them -- local firms Walton and Symphony and global players Samsung and Tecno -- are assembling and marketing products.
Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/business/news/symphonys-second-mobile-assembly-plant-next-year-1668436