MOBİSAD warns of contraction in Turkey's domestic phone production

Domestic mobile phone production in Turkey is facing a significant contraction, with Mustafa Kemal Turnacı, President of MOBİSAD, reporting that three to four companies have ceased production activities within the last two to three months. This decline follows a period approximately 1.5 years ago when domestic production held a 65 percent market share.

Industry representatives identify import supervision values and installment restrictions as primary drivers of the downturn. While the supervision value for mobile phone imports was recently increased from 200 to 250 dollars, MOBİSAD suggests it needs to reach the 300 to 400 dollar range to make local production viable again. Additionally, the current 20,000 TL installment limit is viewed as insufficient for modern device prices; the association is calling for an increase to between 40,000 and 45,000 TL to prevent consumers from turning to unregistered devices.

Turnacı emphasized that protecting current investments is vital for retaining qualified engineers and human resources. He noted that the mobile phone sector supports approximately 170,000 direct and 800,000 indirect jobs in Turkey.