Xiaomi motherboards now being made locally in Bangladesh

[Bilal9]

Star Business Report​

Sun Jan 22, 2023 12:00 AM Last update on: Sun Jan 22, 2023 12:00 AM


Xiaomi, a Beijing-based global smartphone brand, recently announced that the motherboards used in its handsets are now being produced in Bangladesh as the company looks to increase value-addition in the country's nascent mobile manufacturing industry.

The Printed Circuit Board Assembly (PCBA), commonly known as motherboard, is a major component of the company's products as it connects various chips and electrical circuits to enable the overall functionality of a smartphone.

"Local manufacturing of PCBAs show Xiaomi's commitment towards being in Bangladesh for the long haul, and we are able to contribute to generating more tech jobs in Bangladesh," said Ziauddin Chowdhury, country manager of Xiaomi Bangladesh.

The Redmi 10C model is the first Xiaomi product available in the market to be equipped with PCBAs made in Bangladesh.

"Within a short span of time, all locally produced Xiaomi smartphones will use locally manufactured PCBAs, and I believe this will be a milestone in the progress of Bangladesh's tech industry, he added.

The local production of PCBAs comes just one-and-a-half years after Xiaomi first started manufacturing its smartphones in the country

The local production of PCBAs comes just one-and-a-half years after Xiaomi first started manufacturing its smartphones in the country.

In October 2021, Xiaomi started local manufacturing of its devices by opening a plant in Gazipur.

The company has already established a surface mount technology (SMT) plant with state-of-the-art technologies and machinery at its Gazipur unit.

The entire initiative is being completely financed through foreign direct investment.

For PCBA manufacturing, Xiaomi invested about $5 million on technology, taking its total investment in Bangladesh up to $15 million.

SMT machines mount around 2,500 surface mount device components onto a blank printed circuit board to convert it to a completely functional smartphone motherboard or sub-PCBA.

The SMT plant has the capacity to produce 6,000 PCBAs daily, which will increase local value-addition by around 10 per cent.

Xiaomi has collaborated with DBG Technology BD Ltd to manufacture its smartphones and PCBAs in Bangladesh.

DBG, a global electronics manufacturing service company, has operations with several renowned consumer electronics brands around the world, including those in China, Vietnam and India.

Currently, about 95 per cent of the domestic demand for Xiaomi smartphones is met by the local factory. This includes all entry and mid-range phones of the company, such as the Redmi 10A, Redmi 10C, and Redmi Note 11.

Local handset production has made impressive strides in recent years, aided by the government's huge tax benefits unveiled in fiscal 2017-18.

Since then, 14 plants have been set up while another four are in the pipeline, creating jobs for around 17,000 people.

Handsets designed by Samsung, Oppo, Walton, Symphony, Vivo and other brands are now being manufactured in Bangladesh as well.

 

[mb444]

Good news. The next step hopefully is export of BD manufactured phones overseas after satisfying local demand. Whilst this wont help government coffers because mobile export does not have any export tax it will strengthen local tech base.

Amazing how little investment is actually needed....mere $15m...

 

[Bilal9]

Good news. The next step hopefully is export of BD manufactured phones overseas after satisfying local demand. Whilst this wont help government coffers because mobile export does not have any export tax it will strengthen local tech base.

Amazing how little investment is actually needed....mere $15m...

This 'sagol' govt. should do the same tariff protection for Motorcycles, irrigation pumps, sewing machines etc. made in the country and this way they could easily take over the world market at some point.

However the leaders do not have either the exposure or the education to do this. Only thing they do is listen to orders from New Delhi.

 

[UKBengali]

Walton does this already and they are only doing it due to high import taxes that BD government has imposed for imported components.

 

[mb444]

This 'sagol' govt. should do the same tariff protection for Motorcycles, irrigation pumps, sewing machines etc. made in the country and this way they could easily take over the world market at some point.

However the leaders do not have either the exposure or the education to do this. Only thing they do is listen to orders from New Delhi.

Tarrif wall is a very fine balance. Taking a medium to long term view sometimes pays very good dividend if backed by robust local demand. However if it is too vigorous it will degrade and slow down economic progress.

I would always recommend picking a few sector and offer policy support to incubate development like that has happened for mobiles.

Everything else leave it to market forces where once tipping point of demand has been reached local companies will automatically step in.

 

[Bilal9]

Tarrif wall is a very fine balance. Taking a medium to long term view sometimes pays very good dividend if backed by robust local demand. However if it is too vigorous it will degrade and slow down economic progress.

I would always recommend picking a few sector and offer policy support to incubate development like that has happened for mobiles.

Everything else leave it to market forces where once tipping point of demand has been reached local companies will automatically step in.

Thailand govt. encouraged local vehicle assembly (now manufacture) with tariff support , so did India. Both countries are vehicle exporting successes right now, especially Thailand.

Dhori macch na chhui pani korey luv nai, way too much pussy-footing. Motor cycle sector is ripe for tariff support just like mobile. Then automobiles.

Mobile sector in Bangladesh is way more successful and backward-integrated than even India. This is due to bold steps in Bangladesh taken in this regard.

Indians will always oppose bold tariff incentives for local players in Bangladesh and those which make Indian imports dearer in Bangladesh.

They want to sell more of their garbage in Bangladesh.

As patriots we cannot listen to Indian opinion. Shoja hishab. There is no complication here.

Those who oppose tariff blocking of Indian imports in Bangladesh are always shilling for Indian seths - plain and simple.

 

[mb444]

Thailand govt. encouraged local vehicle assembly (now manufacture) with tariff support , so did India. Both countries are vehicle exporting successes right now, especially Thailand.

Dhori macch na chhui pani korey luv nai, way too much pussy-footing. Motor cycle sector is ripe for tariff support just like mobile. Then automobiles.

Mobile sector in Bangladesh is way more successful and backward-integrated than even India. This is due to bold steps in Bangladesh taken in this regard.

Indians will always oppose bold tariff incentives for local players in Bangladesh and those which make Indian imports dearer in Bangladesh.

They want to sell more of their garbage in Bangladesh.

As patriots we cannot listen to Indian opinion. Shoja hishab. There is no complication here.

Those who oppose tariff blocking of Indian imports in Bangladesh are always shilling for Indian seths - plain and simple.

Well it is undeniable that BAL are basically paid indian agents who acts against the interest of the country for short term personal benefit.

This is not going to change as the same could be said of others as well but perhaps may not be to the same degree all the time.

With no political change in sight we are probably in for the more of the same. But it still holds that given enough demand it will always be cheaper to manufacture in house than importing so local companies will step in. Indian/china lop sided trade is unsustainable, BD has little choice but to take steps for mass scale import substitution.