Smartphone import plummets by 53%, festivities failed to rekindle the market

Last Updated on November 24, 2023

The smartphone market suffered a huge setback in Nepal even during the festival season which is reflected by the low volume of import in Kartik, Fiscal Year FY 2080/81. The latest report from the Customs Department shows a 53% fall in imports as despair sellers prioritize clearing the piled-up stocks.

In Kartik, Nepali smartphone entrepreneurs brought in 1 lakh, 29 thousand smartphone units worth Rs 2 arab. It’s a huge downturn from the last month’s data. In Ashoj, Nepali importers bought 2 lakh, 75 thousand, 934 units of smartphones for a whopping Rs 4 arab. Even in Bhadra, the incoming volume was low but the importers doubled their purchases in Ashoj, just ahead of Dashain with much anticipation. The festivities couldn’t stir the market but that didn’t happen.

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Smartphone import still low in Kartik FY 2080/81

In Nepal, the month-long holiday season that oversees Dashain, Tihar, and Chhath is a major shopping time. Smartphone importers brought in units in huge volumes with anticipation but the market failed to translate the expectation. This led importers to cut their imports by over half a percent for Kartik. Nepal is a price-sensitive market with budget smartphones dominating the choice for the majority of the buyers.

Usually, the market slows down for a couple of months after the high time of consumerism in the month-long festival period. This time, even during the Dashain Tihar festival, few people bought new smartphones.

Deepak Malhotra, IME Group President and Chairman who also owns Samsung Nepal reflected on the sad condition of the smartphone industry. A huge number of smartphones were imported during Dashain but sales didn’t increase. The stocks are already large so the import decline was obvious drastically in Kartik in comparison to Ashoj.”

The smartphone industry has seen huge ups and downs from the smartphone ban to its uplifting to the complete MDMS implementation. The government has started blacklisting unregistered phones with the end purpose of completely eliminating the “grey” market. However, due to the recession and consumers’ lower confidence, smartphone import has continued to suffer.

Nepal buys most smartphones from China, India, Vietnam, etc.

Smartphone imports saw another frustrating performance in Kartik, FY 2080/81 and it’s still hard to decipher when it will get better as financial struggle continues to affect the buyers.