“Izvestia” learned about the reduction in the supply of “gray” smartphones to Russia

Deliveries of “gray” smartphones to Russia have almost completely stopped, writes newspaper “Izvestia”.

As several phone sellers at one of the largest Moscow radio markets told the publication, due to the reduction in illegal supplies, there was a shortage of such devices, and their prices have already increased by 3,000-4,000 rubles. Subsequently, their price will probably not differ from the cost of devices imported into Russia through parallel imports. Stocks of devices previously imported by circuitous routes could run out as early as this month, one vendor says.

Mobile Research Group analyst Eldar Murtazin drew attention to the fact that these products were no longer allowed through customs. Problems with gray suppliers began in February, after Ruslan Davydov was appointed acting head of the Federal Customs Service (FCS), he said.

The main reason, however, the expert calls the well-established parallel import, in which it is not necessary to ensure the offer “at any cost”. Another reason could be a sharp increase in the supply of “gray” smartphones: in 2022, about 7.8 million gadgets were illegally imported (up to 30% of all imported into the Russian Federation) after 1.6 million in 2021 (about 5% of all deliveries).

The FCS itself noted that they are working to combat illegal supplies as planned.

After the start of Russia’s special operation in Ukraine, the largest equipment manufacturers suspended their activities in Russia. On March 2, 2022, Apple restricted the import of products, sales and operation of Apple Pay in Russia. A similar decision to suspend supplies was made by the South Korean companies LG and Samsung. In addition, due to problems with logistics and pricing, in early March, shipments of Chinese Xiaomi were almost halved, Huawei and Oppo.

How wrote earlier than Vedomosti, in 2022 the average price of a smartphone fell by almost 20% to below 20,000 rubles. Over the year, the figure fell from 23,300 to 19,200 rubles, according to a study by GS Group. According to Telecom Daily, the average price of a smartphone last year was 19,500 rubles, while a year earlier it was 15% higher.

Last year, compared to the previous year, imports of iPhones to Russia in unit terms decreased by half, and gadgets Samsung – three times. But the decline affected not only premium brands of phones. The number of all smartphones sold in the Russian market fell by 18% from 30 million to 24.5 million, according to Telecom Daily statistics.