Izvestia: Apple service centers began to close in Russia

In Russia, Apple authorized service centers (ASCs) began to close. About it reported “News”.

Among the already closed centers are MacLabs in Moscow and B2X in St. Petersburg. On the website of another Moscow service, Brobrolab, a message appeared about raising funds to continue its activities. According to the general director of the company Dmitry Kiryanov, in order to continue the work, it is necessary to collect about 6 million rubles in three months.

He clarified that the difficulties that arose were the result of the ninth and tenth package of anti-Russian sanctions, which affected the supply of smartphones over $300 to Russia. Kiryanov noted that this led to a monthly loss of 1.1 million rubles. The reduction in the number of customers also affected the company’s income.

At the same time, the number of Apple devices that remain under warranty is decreasing every month, and the cost of post-warranty repairs is increasing, the sources said. At the same time, according to market participants, there should be no problems with devices that were purchased through parallel imports.

The fact that Apple did not renew contracts with Russian service centers, which expire at the end of March, earlier reported “News”. Then it was clarified that from April all devices that need to be carried out under warranty will be sent to a representative office abroad. As a result, the repair time can increase up to two months.

After the start of Russia’s special operation in Ukraine, the largest equipment manufacturers suspended their activities in Russia. On March 2, 2022, the American company Apple restricted the import of products, sales and operation of Apple Pay in Russia. In this regard, parallel imports were allowed in Russia, the corresponding law was signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in June. The Ministry of Industry and Trade has approved a list of goods for parallel imports that can be imported into the Russian Federation without the consent of the manufacturer or copyright holder. It included products from electronics manufacturers (Apple, SamsungAsus, Intel, Sony, etc.).