General Mobile Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board İlkay Cihaner stated that tax reductions or special exemptions should be applied for domestically produced phones in order to use Turkey’s current capacity in smartphone production more efficiently.

In the evaluations carried out in Istanbul, it was pointed out that despite Turkey’s production capacity of 14.8 million units, the number of domestic devices offered to the domestic market in 2025 remained at only 5.27 million. An invitation was made to implement new incentive policies that will strengthen the technology ecosystem in order to bring the dysfunctional capacity in the sector into the economy.

Türkiye Cannot Fully Use Its Production Capacity

Turkey has reached an important point in terms of technological infrastructure and knowledge in recent years. In particular, investments made by domestic brands have the potential to turn the country into a regional production center.

However, the data emphasized by İlkay Cihaner shows that a large part of the existing potential cannot be processed yet. The fact that more than half of the 11.7 million devices with IMEI registration in 2025 will be out of domestic production reveals that the sector is experiencing efficiency problems.

The fact that the capacity utilization rate in the sector remains at 35 percent makes it difficult for domestic producers to achieve economic scale.

Policies That Will Support Domestic Production Are Expected

General Mobile states that it has an infrastructure that can produce not only for its own brand but also for different global brands.

The company, which has the capacity to produce 4.2 million devices annually, has managed to increase its localization rate to 70 percent. On the other hand, the fact that the dysfunctional capacity throughout the sector has reached gigantic levels proves that state support is a must to increase competitiveness.

Implementing tax reductions or reasonable tax exemptions can reduce the costs of domestic producers and enable them to offer their products to consumers at more competitive prices.

This will strengthen the technology ecosystem in general, covering not only domestic brands but all players producing in Türkiye. The increase in added value to be created in domestic production will also have a positive impact on the foreign trade stability of the country.

Tax incentives given to the technology ecosystem can directly increase Turkey’s production share in the global market.

The Future of Sector Investments is Taking Shape

Supplements to domestic production will not only enable existing factories to operate more efficiently, but will also lead to attracting new investments to Türkiye.

Companies such as General Mobile state that if their production capacities operate at full capacity, they can allocate more budget to R&D activities and increase their localization rates even higher. Such steps to be taken in line with Turkey’s technology-oriented growth strategy are of strategic importance in removing the obstacles to the sector.

How do you think tax reductions in domestic smartphone production will be reflected in consumers? What do you think about domestic brands increasing their market share? You can share your opinions with us in the comments section.