Starmobile UNO B208 assembly Philippine factory_Revu

First in PH: Starmobile starts phone assembly in Calamba

In Business, Phones by Alora Uy GuerreroLeave a Comment

LOCALLY branded smartphones are not really assembled in the Philippines. You know that, right? They buy the devices from original design manufacturers or ODMs, which are mostly based in China, and tweak them to their liking, so to speak. But in a first in the Philippines, a local technology company is assembling mobile phones in the country.

Star Telecom Alliance Resources, parent company of Starmobile, has started assembly of 20,000 units of Starmobile UNO B208 — a dual-SIM feature phone with an FM radio, a camera with flash, an expandable memory, a flashlight, multimedia playback, and a battery life of up to two days — in a facility in Calamba, Laguna. This is in line with its goal to contribute to the local economy and provide employment to Filipinos, according to Starmobile COO Michael Chen.

Starmobile UNO B208 assembly Philippine factory_Revu

The facility in Calamba, Laguna, is owned by STAR’s partner.

“Aside from bringing us a step closer to our dream of building up the Philippines as an important player in the global tech scene, this will also benefit our bottom line, as it will result in more cost and time-efficient logistics and shipment around the country,” he added. “Also, because we will have parts and an assembly facility locally, we expect this to improve our after-sales support for our customers.”

We learned that the facility, finished this year and is capable of being used as a plant for assembling devices like laptops and phone accessories, was built by a partner of the company. It can assemble a minimum of 1,000 handsets per day.

If things go well with the Starmobile UNO B208, there is a good chance that STAR will begin assembling smartphones in the Philippines as well.

If things go well with the Starmobile UNO B208, there is a good chance that STAR, parent company of Starmobile, will begin assembling smartphones in the Philippines as well.

Unlike in our Southeast Asian neighbor Indonesia, phone companies are not required to put up assembly plants in the country before getting the government’s approval to sell their devices in the Philippines.

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Alora Uy Guerrero

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Editor-in-chief: Alora Uy Guerrero has 21 years of experience as an editor for print and digital publications such as Yahoo. She took time off journalism to manage OPPO’s digital-marketing campaigns. When not busy with her babies, she’s working on Revü, a passion project — or probably traveling or obsessing over her favorite bands, movies, TV shows, and basketball teams.