Turkey sees major boost in smuggled cellphone market

By Fatih Erkan Dogan

ANKARA

The market for smuggled cellphones has increased sevenfold in the last five years in Turkey amid rising taxes and exchange rates, head of Mobile Communication and Informatics Technologies Association said Monday.

In an interview with Anadolu Agency, Sinan Eksi said the annual value of smuggled and untaxed cellphone sales rose to 8.3 billion Turkish liras ($2.3 billion) from 1 billion Turkish liras ($0.55 billion) five years ago, indicating a 730-percent increase in the time period.

Eksi also noted that “private consumption tax” applied on cellphones increased by 60 percent from 2011 to 2016; moreover, foreign exchange rates, which directly impact cellphone prices, almost doubled within the same period.

He added: “The average budget allocated for a cellphone purchase rose to 1,400 Turkish liras [$388] in 2016 from 490 liras [$272] in 2012.

“Of all cellphones sold in Turkey, 72 percent have a price tag above 1,000 liras [$272] while nearly one-third are above 3,000 Turkish liras [$833],” he added.

Cellphones worth $3.06 billion were imported in 2016, according to figures from TurkStat.