iPhone imports on the rise in Russia – Vedomosti

Supplies have been recovering via parallel channels after Apple exited the country last year

Russian imports of Apple iPhones jumped by 15% in the first half of 2023 year-on-year, amounting to 1.1 million devices, the Vedomosti newspaper reported on Wednesday, citing data by the analytical center GS Group.

According to the report, the sales volume was worth 105.7 billion rubles (over $1 billion). In monetary terms, Apple devices are still leading on the Russian market (34%), followed by China’s Xiaomi (19%) and South Korea’s Samsung (16%). However, in unit terms, the share of Apple smartphones dropped to 9% due to declining demand, compared with Xiaomi’s 27.9% market share and Samsung’s 12.7% share. It was also less than that of Chinese Realmi and Tecno, with 12.1% and 10.4% share of the Russian market, respectively.

Statistics also showed that the number of iPhones imported into Russia by parallel imports in the first six months of this year was one million units lower than in the same period of 2021 – before the sanctions.

Apple stopped selling iPhones and other products in Russia last March, joining the exodus of Western brands amid Ukraine-related sanctions. In April, the company stopped providing warranty service for Macs and iPads in the country.

READ MORE: Apple ends warranty service for devices in Russia – reports

Russian retailers have been procuring the iconic gadgets from other countries via parallel imports, a practice by which a non-counterfeit product is imported without the permission of the intellectual property owner via alternative supply channels. Russia legalized the mechanism to provide the market with goods that Western companies stopped delivering or producing in Russia because of sanctions.

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