Xiaomi officially partners with Air Link to manufacture smartphones in Pakistan

In order to boost Pakistan’s mobile manufacturing capabilities, Xiaomi has officially partnered with well-known assembler and distributor Air Link Communication Limited in order to bring Xiaomi phones locally in Pakistan.

According to Air Link, it will incorporate a wholly-owned subsidiary and upon this Air Link stated the following:

“The primary objective of this wholly-owned subsidiary would be to take on additional mobile device manufacturing of certain selected brand(s).”

As of now, Xiaomi’s global smartphone market has grown by 83 percent year-on-year and has shipped around 52.8 million smartphones hence making the company the world’s second top-selling brand going ahead of Apple while still behind Samsung.

However, Air Link stated the following:

“[It is] targeting a production of initially around 2.5 million to 3 million handsets annually subject to the smooth supply chain which is expected to add approximately $450 million annually in top-line revenue numbers and will have a material incremental impact on the EPS of the company other than the normal course of business.”

Furthermore, Air Link mentioned that the production facility will be located at Quaid-e-Azam Industrial Estate, Kot Lakhpat Lahore where production is set to commence around the month of January 2022.

In a statement, it was mentioned that SELECT will be the manufacturing partner while Air Link will continue to be the distributor of Xiaomi phones in Pakistan.

According to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, around 26 companies have been issued an MDM Authorization hence enabling them to manufacture mobile devices in Pakistan. These companies include Samsung, Nokia, Oppo, TECNO, QMobile, and more.