According to the latest news, 7 technology giants are investing in Turkey and thus Turkey is becoming one of the region’s leading smartphone production areas thanks to investments from the world’s most powerful mobile phone producers. These companies are; Xiaomi, Oppo, Tecno Mobile, Samsung, TCL, Vivo and Realme.
XIAOMI opts for Turkey
According to information gathered by an AA correspondent, Xiaomi, the world’s 3rd largest phone manufacturer, has started phone production in Turkey with the factory it set up in Istanbul in March. By making a $30 million investment in Turkey, the company has chosen Turkey as the 4th country in the world in which it produces. With this investment, the company will hire nearly 2,000 people. The company, which started domestic production for the first time with the Redmi 9C model, has introduced, in addition to this model, the Redmi 9T model with the domestic production label.
OPPO has launched its second phone with the “Made in Turkey” label
OPPO, China’s leading phone manufacturer, reported that it started production in a closed 12,000 square meter factory in Tuzla, in March. After the OPPO A15s, the very first model to be produced in Turkey, OPPO presented users with its second device, the Reno5 Lite, bearing the “Made in Turkey” label.
TECNO MOBILE
Chinese smartphone giant TECNO is investing in Turkey. The company has started production in Turkey with a $35 million investment. TECNO Mobile’s country manager in Turkey, Hank Li, said the company aims to create jobs for up to 1,000 people at its Pendik factory in Istanbul and plans to increase its investment in Turkey in the long term.
SAMSUNG’s ranges in Turkey
South Korean manufacturer Samsung has also started production in Turkey. After reaching an agreement with Atmaca Elektronik, which produces the “Sunny” brand, Samsung’s mobile phones made in Turkey have started to appear in shops with the words “Assembled in Turkey“.
TCL increases production capacity
Technology giant TCL has also chosen Turkey. By establishing a partnership with Arçelik, TCL has started the production of smartphones. The company, which started production with the “TCL” brand in the Çerkezköy, located in the Kapaklı district of Tekirdağ, plans to produce 450,000 devices per year at start-up and aims to increase its production capacity to 1 million by 2022.
2 new brands that will benefit from production in Turkey
Chinese tech firm Vivo also said it would lease infrastructure in Gebze and that its production would be in Turkey. Smartphone producer Realme also announced on its social network account that it would start production in Turkey.
The technology group HUAWEI, which has started its investments in Turkey in the past, announced that it had placed TL 520 million in Turkey in a decade. In his statement in February, Huawei Turkey CEO Jing Li stressed that Turkey is of great importance to Huawei, as it is its second R&D centre outside China.
As the AA correspondent of the Mobile Communication Tools and Information Technology Businessmen’s Association (MOBISAD) stated, Turkey is in a position to become a large market for phone manufacturers. While 10.5 million official mobile phones were sold in Turkey in the last year, this figure rises to 12 million if undeclared data is included.
“One of the main reasons why Turkey is favoured is that it is an attractive market,” says Serhat Yüksel, associate professor at the Faculty of Commerce and Management at Istanbul’s Medipol University.
Noting that phone purchases have reached very high levels due to the influence of youth population in Turkey, Yüksel said that major phone companies are also aware of this opportunity and wish to enter this market. Referring to the evolution of the exchange rate, Yüksel said: “The US dollar has become richer against the Turkish lira. As a result, production costs in Turkey have decreased compared to other countries. Therefore, these companies have preferred Turkey for production”.
In addition to the above-mentioned problems, Turkey introduced a monitoring measure for imported products in May 2020. In this framework, it aimed to protect the domestic producer. Through this measure, mobile phones that were priced below a certain amount were subject to import surveillance.
This led to an increase in the price of cheap mobile phones. As a result, the big phone companies wanted to reduce these costs by choosing Turkey as a production site. Furthermore, Turkey’s geographical location also makes it attractive to foreign investors.
Indeed, being close to Europe, manufacturing in Turkey offers a considerable cost advantage to investors. In other words, major telephone companies can greatly reduce their logistical costs by choosing Turkey as a production centre instead of China. That’s why more and more companies are investing in Turkey in the last years.
“Many of our citizens are offered job opportunities”
Serhat Yüksel pointed out that the investments have multiple benefits for Turkey: “First and foremost, thanks to these investments, employment opportunities are offered to many of our citizens. This development, therefore, helps in the fight against unemployment, which is one of the most worrying problems in the world,” he said.
Pointing out that multiple local suppliers will be in a position to boost their turnover as a result of these investments, Yüksel stressed that “when the big telephone companies start producing in Turkey, they will once again provide many of the products that they need from Turkish companies.”
This will increase the turnover of the companies concerned. On the other hand, one of the most important benefits of these investments is the arrival of technology related to this issue in our country. Thanks to these investors, Turkish engineers and technicians will be able to learn how these technologies are applied. I think this will bring very important benefits to our country in the long term,” he added.
These investments contribute significantly to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals
“For the time being, Turkey has been able to attract these companies to its territory. However, another key concern is the growth and sustainability of these investments. What can we do about this? First of all, the state should provide some support. The cost advantages of production in Turkey need to be preserved through various incentives. Clearly, there would be no reason for firms benefiting from these advantages to move to other countries.
These elements will not only ensure that these companies are investing in Turkey and they will remain in Turkey, but will also help to encourage other companies to choose Turkey. This will significantly contribute to the economic development of our nation. ”
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