Made in Iran’ or ‘Assembled in Iran.’ When we see this phrase on a well-known foreign product, we should naturally take pride in it. However, sometimes things don’t go as we would like. Nokia has filed a complaint against an Iranian company that claimed to have assembled basic Nokia mobile phones in Iran over the past year.

What is the Story Behind the Nokia Mobile Phone Assembly in Iran?

According to IDEA, The issue of assembling simple Nokia mobile phones in Iran began last year. Since the autumn of last year, some simple Nokia products in the Iranian market have borne the label ‘Assembled by Company …,’ which has raised some uncertainties. Has Nokia really granted permission to an Iranian company to assemble its mobile phones in Iran?

In recent months, we acquired four simple Nokia mobile phones: two Nokia 150 and two Nokia 210. Two of the phones we obtained were imported versions, while the other two models indicated assembly in an Iranian company. Interestingly, the two models that were assembled in Iran also had the phrase ‘Made in Vietnam’ on their boxes, with only a label stating that they were assembled by an Iranian company.

Further investigations since then have revealed that Nokia, which registered its trademark in Iran in the 1970s, has filed a complaint against the Iranian company claiming to assemble simple Nokia mobile phones in its own factory. The complaint process apparently began last year and is still ongoing. It seems that in this complaint, HMD Global, which holds the rights to the Nokia brand in the mobile industry, has emphasized that neither itself nor its Chinese subsidiary, ‘HMD Mobile (Shenzhen) Limited,’ has any affiliation with the company claiming to assemble Nokia mobile phones in Iran.

Importers’ Association: Our Silence Doesn’t Imply Approval

In this regard, Mehdi Abghari stated without mentioning a specific company that they are aware of the matter, but their silence does not imply approval of this process. He told in this regard, ‘This company has obtained the necessary permits from the Ministry of Industry, Mining, and Trade. However, since this company’s activities are not in our field of expertise, we have remained silent on this matter. But our silence does not imply approval of these actions. We want to be mobile manufacturers in the country, and it is reasonable to start with assembly. However, the assembly must be under the supervision of the parent company. We’re not saying this; the law dictates it.

He also confirmed that Nokia has filed a complaint in Iran regarding this matter. Abghari explained in this context:

“Based on our information, Nokia has also taken legal action regarding their complaint. Then, the Iranian company stated that they obtained their license through an intermediary. Nokia has corresponded with the intermediary company and it has been stated that they haven’t granted any licenses either. In any case, this is a legal process that we (as the Importers’ Association) do not wish to get involved in because it does not have a direct connection with us. However, one aspect does concern us, which is that a global company is branding a product, and we import that product. This has both benefits and responsibilities for us and the government. It is true that this company does not have official representation in our country due to sanctions, but the Nokia brand has an audience in our country. Consumers use it, and there are also stakeholders who import it, bear the costs, and naturally seek their own trade profit. Any damage to this brand due to a product that may lack quality won’t be attributed to an Iranian producer. They say a particular model of Nokia has problems. Importers see this damage, so we, as the Importers’ Association, can address this aspect.”

The secretary of the Importers’ Association points out that manufacturing/assembly companies also have multiple benefits; for example, in the assembly process, they pay less for customs because the customs cost for SKD/CKD is one percent, which, according to Abghari, creates inequality between importers and manufacturers. He emphasizes: “This is a source of national pride for us, that a product is produced in our country. But it must be a quality product.”

He stresses that he can only provide explanations in this particular context, and the government, which has granted licenses, should clarify how and through what process this action has been taken. On the other hand, he calls on the Organization for Regulation of Radio and Communications to apply the same scrutiny it applies to mobile import standards to mobiles that are assembled or produced within the country.

Ambiguous Fate of the Case

The reality is that the desire for indigenous technology development in Iran, with government support, has not been a hidden matter in the past two decades. In the past 15 years, many of these non-private projects, despite substantial expenditures, have been forgotten. From efforts to develop a domestic operating system to some hardware endeavors. However, the production of mobile phones has a different story. The governments of the twelfth and thirteenth administrations in recent years have made serious efforts to develop, design, manufacture, or even assemble mobile phones.

But in the past year, the discussion of mobile phone production in Iran has become more serious than ever before. Various facilities have been provided to some companies, and the government has allocated financial resources for the growth of this industry. On the other hand, the Minister of Communications has also announced that this year, one million economical mobile phones under $100 will be produced in Iran. The Ministry of Communications declared in June 2023 that it has set a target to produce one million domestic smartphones and has allocated 500 billion tomans for employment incentives to achieve this goal. So, yes, this time the matter is different than ever before.

The question now is whether, without permission from companies like Nokia, Samsung, or Xiaomi, their products can be imported into the country in CKD form and assembled here. If the answer is affirmative, perhaps one day we can expect a domestically-made Lamborghini as well.