General Mobile Seeks Tax Support for Local Phone Production

Ender Öztürk

June 23, 2026

General Mobile’s Executive Vice President, İlkay Cihaner, has called for tax reductions or special exemptions for locally manufactured smartphones to better utilize Turkey’s existing production capacity. Speaking in Istanbul, Cihaner highlighted that despite an annual production capability of 14.8 million units, only 5.27 million domestically produced devices entered the market in 2025. He urged for new incentive policies to strengthen the technology ecosystem and leverage the significant underutilized capacity within the sector.

Turkey is Not Fully Utilizing Its Production Capacity

Turkey has achieved significant advancements in technological infrastructure and expertise in recent years. Investments by local brands, in particular, hold the potential to position the country as a regional manufacturing hub.

However, the data presented by İlkay Cihaner indicates that a substantial portion of this potential remains untapped. The fact that over half of the 11.7 million devices registered with IMEI in 2025 were not locally produced underscores a notable efficiency issue within the sector.

The industry’s capacity utilization rate remaining around 35% makes it challenging for local manufacturers to achieve economies of scale.

Policies to Support Local Production are Expected

General Mobile states that its facilities are equipped to manufacture not only for its own brand but also for other global brands.

With an annual production capacity of 4.2 million devices, the company has successfully increased its localization rate to approximately 70%. Nevertheless, the vast amount of idle capacity across the industry demonstrates the necessity of government support to enhance competitiveness.

Implementing tax reductions or specific tax exemptions could lower costs for local manufacturers, enabling them to offer their products to consumers at more competitive prices.

Such measures, extending to all players manufacturing in Turkey and not just local brands, would bolster the technology ecosystem overall. The increased added value generated by local production would also positively impact the country’s foreign trade balance.

Tax incentives for the technology ecosystem could directly increase Turkey’s share in global production markets.

The Future of Sector Investments is Being Shaped

Support for local production will not only ensure that existing factories operate more efficiently but will also attract new investments into Turkey.

Companies like General Mobile indicate that if their production capacities operate at full utilization, they could allocate more budget to R&D activities and further increase their localization rates. Such steps, aligned with Turkey’s technology-driven growth strategy, are strategically vital for removing obstacles facing the sector.

How do you think tax reductions in local smartphone production would affect consumers? What are your thoughts on increasing the market share of local brands? Share your opinions in the comments section.