Apple has the most loyal users, loyalty to Samsung has fallen

Russians began to change smartphones more often for five months, as well as their brands when switching to new devices, MTS calculated. Since the beginning of the year, only 30% of users who purchased a new device have remained committed to the previous manufacturer. Apple users remain the most loyal. Loyalty to South Korean Samsung, on the contrary, is declining; its users are more often switching to cheaper Chinese gadgets on Android. Market participants attribute the trend to an increase in the range of Chinese vendors in the Russian Federation.

Over the nine months of 2023, MTS subscribers began to change phones more often. The lifespan of devices was reduced by five months, to a year and five months, Big Data MTS told Kommersant: “We attribute the trend to the expansion of the range in the low and medium price segments, in particular among Chinese manufacturers, which show the highest increase in quantity smartphones.” According to the operator’s representative, overall the share of Chinese smartphones in the mobile network increased by almost 10 percentage points (pp). Realme had the largest increase – by 2.5 p.p., and the largest outflow of users was from Samsung, whose share decreased by 3 p.p. year on year.

Tele2 confirmed the increase in consumer transitions to new Android-based brands: “This is due to fundamental changes in the landscape of device vendors based on this OS in the Russian market.” At the same time, according to the operator, Samsung’s share has decreased radically due to a stop in supplies, and Xiaomi’s due to a reduction in advertising support.

Meanwhile, at MegaFon, the leader among new smartphones registered on the network in the second quarter was Xiaomi – Redmi 9A, in second place – Apple iPhone 11, Xiaomi – Redmi 10C also closes the top three. The top five on the operator’s network also includes the iPhone 14 Pro Max and iPhone 14 Pro. VimpelCom did not respond to Kommersant’s request.

The penetration of new Chinese smartphone brands into the Russian market “eroded user loyalty to certain vendors,” MTS notes: “In 2023, Russians began to change smartphone brands more often when switching to new devices – only 30% of users remained committed to specific manufacturers. A year earlier the figure was 34%.” According to him, Apple users can be called the most loyal – 67% of them prefer to purchase a smartphone of the same brand, while Samsung continues to be chosen by 35% of users, and Xiaomi – 41%.

However, in general, Apple’s share of the Russian market is declining. In September, Chinese Infinix caught up with Apple in the number of smartphones sold – both brands have 9% of the market. (see “Kommersant” dated September 6). At the same time, the volume of Apple equipment submitted for repair is increasing. As Vedomosti reported, Russians repaired brand products 33% more often in August than in the same month a year earlier. Experts explained the situation by saying that people began to buy used equipment more often, and its owners, purchasing new items, put old gadgets in order for sale.

Most often, owners of Apple smartphones also have a smart watch, headphones or a laptop of the brand, use proprietary cloud storage and other services, M.Video-Eldorado noted: “Therefore, they are not considering switching to Android devices.” According to M.Video-Eldorado, about 18.5 million smartphones were sold on the Russian market in eight months, which is a quarter more than in January-August 2022. In monetary terms, sales exceeded 400 billion rubles, which is almost 10% more year-on-year.

Loyalty to Apple is due to the fact that in Russia the brand has formed a small but stable audience that buys the company’s devices year after year, says Fplus business analyst Arthur Makhlayuk. “Therefore, it is likely that next year the American company will retain its leading position in the Russian Federation, at least in monetary terms.” At the same time, according to him, many Samsung users in the current conditions are considering cheaper smartphones from Chinese vendors.

Timofey Kornev