Mobile phone prices in Pakistan could increase as the cost of smartphone chips continues to rise in the global market.
Industry sources said higher demand for advanced data centres used in artificial intelligence, along with rising prices of memory chips, wafer production, packaging, and other electronic parts, has made smartphone chips more expensive.
International reports say Qualcomm, one of the world’s biggest mobile chip makers, has informed customers that it is increasing the prices of several of its chips.
Experts say these higher production costs could lead to more expensive smartphones, including in Pakistan, in the coming months.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Customs data released in the last week of July showed that mobile phone imports increased by 258.6% in terms of units during FY26.
The customs department clarified that the figures include imports of Completely Built Units (CBUs) separately from Completely Knocked Down (CKD) and Semi Knocked Down (SKD) kits.
According to the data, smartphone CBU imports increased from about 290,000 units in FY25 to 1.04 million units in FY26.
Industry sources said 60% to 70% of the additional imports were new and used Apple iPhones and Google Pixel phones.
Customs officials said the increase reflects strong demand for mobile phone brands that are not assembled locally and does not affect Pakistan’s local mobile phone assembly policy.
