Demand for smartwatches is shifting towards less expensive products

More and more wearable devices are being sold in Russia. According to the results of the first half of the year, this market grew in physical terms by 50%, according to MTS. However, demand is shifting towards low-cost devices, so in monetary terms, sales fell by 2%. In line with this trend, the market share of smart devices from brands such as Apple and Samsung is declining, which are being actively pressed by Chinese competitors.

According to the results of the first half of 2023, the share of sold smart watches from Apple decreased in physical terms from 23% to 10% compared to the same period last year, in monetary terms – from 53% to 41%, according to MTS data on sales of wearable devices. The share of Samsung decreased from 9.6% to 5.5% and from 15.3% to 13.5%, respectively. In F+ tech | Marvel” in general, they talk about a decrease in sales of smart devices of A-brands in physical terms: now Apple’s smart devices occupy 9.7% of the market, and Samsung – 5.7%. According to OFD Platform, a fiscal data operator, in the first half of the year, sales of Apple and Samsung smartwatches in physical terms fell by 50-60% year-on-year.

In general, wearable devices began to be sold more in the Russian Federation.

According to MTS, in the first six months of this year, 3.3 million smartwatches and fitness trackers were sold in Russia for a total of 20.2 billion rubles, which is 50% more than in the same period last year.

In the market as a whole, there is an increase in sales, says Olga Polonovskaya, head of the “Accessories” direction at DiHouse. She notes that the main reasons for the growth were the streamlining of processes and changes in supply chains. Growth in demand for wearable electronics is also seen in M.Video-Eldorado.

However, demand is shifting towards less expensive products. This is evidenced by the fact that, according to MTS, the total market volume in terms of money decreased by 2% in the first half of the year, and the market share of little-known brands of smart devices increased from 15% to 43%.

At the same time, the average price of smart watches from Apple, although it fell by 4% following the results of the period under review, remains at the level of 34.8 thousand rubles.

Dmitry Batyushenkov, Product Director of the OFD Platform, among the reasons for the decline in sales of wearable devices from Apple, also names difficulties with the full use of applications on devices (for example, contactless payment) and minimization of marketing activity in Russia. DiHouse reminds that now Apple products to Russia, unlike in 2022, are imported exclusively through parallel imports, although they hope for a recovery in demand for it closer to the end of the year.

Mr. Batyushenkov believes that there is a high “consumer adaptability” in the country, citizens are “actively trying out new brands”, which is what Apple and Samsung competitors from China and other friendly countries use, “increasing their share”. According to the business analyst of F+ tech | Marvel” Artur Makhlayuk, the most popular in the first half of 2023 are the devices of the Mi brand, which occupies 23% of the market, Huawei (12.4%). Also during the year, the Chinese smartwatch manufacturer DT No.1 managed to capture a market share of 3.4%. “We see that sales of new brands have increased significantly this year, which are mainly represented on marketplaces,” says Andrey Gubanov, general director of the MTS retail chain. “The share of non-Chinese brands in the Russian market is really decreasing,” said the press service of Inventive Retail Group (which manages re:Store and Samsung stores).

Vadim Krasnikov