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Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is expected to discuss potential Apple manufacturing or assembly in Pakistan with CEO John Ternus in the US.
Pakistan’s efforts to expand its domestic smartphone industry could include attempts to bring Apple’s manufacturing or assembly operations to the country, with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expected to discuss the possibility with Apple CEO John Ternus during an upcoming visit to the United States.
The matter came up during a briefing to the National Assembly Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunication, where the chief executive officer of the Engineering Development Board outlined the government’s efforts to encourage Apple to establish a production presence in Pakistan.
The official told lawmakers that 37 companies are already engaged in mobile phone manufacturing within the country and have collectively produced more than 35 million handsets.
According to the briefing, Apple remains outside Pakistan’s local mobile phone manufacturing sector, prompting government efforts to explore whether the company could establish either manufacturing or assembly facilities in the country. A meeting between the prime minister and Ternus in the United States is expected to support those efforts.
Committee Chairman Aminul Haque welcomed the progress made in local handset production but said the country needed to further strengthen its manufacturing capacity. He stressed that locally produced mobile phones should be reasonably priced while maintaining acceptable quality standards.
Haque also called for the domestic industry to place greater emphasis on smartphones compatible with 4G and 5G networks, arguing that Pakistan should move beyond reliance on devices based on older 3G technology.
He proposed “Smartphone for All” as a broader objective for improving public access to modern mobile devices.
The committee was separately informed by the IT secretary that mobile phone usage in Pakistan currently stands at around 200 million users.
Haque also raised concerns about the theft of mobile phones in Karachi, noting that residents frequently lose their devices to snatching incidents and must then bear the cost of purchasing replacements.
