Demand for Apple devices fell due to an overabundance of smartphones

Due to a decrease in demand for Apple’s premium smartphones and “uncontrolled deliveries” of parallel imports, an oversupply of smartphones has developed on the market, Kommersant’s sources say, noting primarily the iPhone 14 and 13. At the same time, the rest of the smartphone market is growing – in January-May overall demand increased by 12% with a decline in Apple products by 4%. At the end of spring, some iPhone models even fell in price by 6-10%. However, experts do not expect further serious price reductions.

According to a Kommersant source in the electronics market, in April-June there was a clear oversupply of iPhones on the market: “Now the company’s products are being transported in a row under the guise of anything. Previously, Apple tightly controlled deliveries, organizing them in proportion to demand or less than it.

The supply of Apple smartphones exceeds demand by about twice, confirms Denis Kuskov, CEO of TelecomDaily. According to him, overstocking is especially obvious for the most expensive iPhone 14 and 13 models.

The situation is aggravated by falling demand for devices, Mr. Kuskov adds. MTS is also talking about a decrease in the demand for Apple technology: according to the company, the vendor’s share in total sales in January-May 2023 in pieces decreased from 14% to 10% year-on-year, and in money terms – from 39% to 36%. The situation has already led to a decrease in product prices: at the end of May, Izvestia reported that iPhone models fell in price by 6-10%. However, Mr. Kuskov believes that in the future the prices for the iPhone will not decrease against the background of the growth of the dollar and the euro, and taking into account the premium brand.

At the same time, re:Store, which used to be an official Apple dealer in Russia, on the contrary, says that there is a shortage for a number of iPhone models, for example, iPhone 14 pro max and 13. “Deliveries of devices come regularly, however, due to parallel imports, the number of gadgets supplied does not always keep up with demand,” says a representative of the retailer. At M.Video-Eldorado, “the availability of Apple smartphones fully satisfies the current demand,” a spokesman for the network said.

After the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine, Apple stopped official deliveries of its products to Russia. Now equipment is imported under the parallel import mechanism, that is, without the permission of the copyright holder.

Meanwhile, the overall market for mobile devices in Russia is growing. So, according to Andrey Gubanov, CEO of the MTS retail network, from January to May 2023, smartphone sales in the country grew by 12.5%, to 10.6 million devices. However, in money terms they decreased by 8%, to 223.4 billion rubles.

“The decline in sales in terms of money is explained by a high base – an explosive growth in sales of models in the high price segment in February and partly in March last year, after which there was an increase in demand for devices from cheaper Chinese brands and a drop in Apple sales,” he explains.

Mr. Gubanov adds that demand is also falling for Samsung smartphones: the brand’s share in units decreased from 29% in January-May 2022 to 13% over the same period in 2023, in money terms – from 26% to 17%. At the same time, the retailer notes an increase in demand for Chinese Tecnos, their share increased from 2% to 11%, and in money terms – from 1% to 5%. According to Mr. Gubanov, Apple was not among the top three in sales in Russia, now the Chinese Xiaomi (28% of the market) has become the best-selling vendor, Realme is in second place (14%) and Samsung is in third. A year earlier, Samsung (29%) was in first place, followed by Xiaomi (27%) and Apple (14%) closed the top three.

Demand for devices always drops in the summer as people spend money on vacations and travel, notes Lyubov Morozova, lead product manager at diHouse: “Therefore, some retailers resort to promotions and discounts. Stores also need to sell out stock by September as new devices come out.”

Timofey Kornev