Laptops opened from the Chinese side

In July, sales of laptops in Russia in pieces fell by 22% yoy, retailers said. At the same time, Chinese manufacturers Honor and Huawei are increasing sales against the background of their reduction in the American Apple and Taiwanese Asus, which stopped official deliveries against the backdrop of hostilities in Ukraine. Retailers and distributors expect Chinese brands to continue to strengthen in the Russian market.

“Kommersant” got acquainted with the MTS report on sales of laptops in Russia in July. It follows from it that the American HP with a share of 21% (a year earlier 26%) remained the leader in sales in pieces, the second place was taken by Lenovo, which increased its share from 17% to 18%. Taiwanese Acer took 14% up from 13% in July 2021. At Asus, the share decreased by 4 percentage points year-on-year, to 13%. At the same time, Chinese Honor and Huawei increased their shares from 5% to 9% and from 3% to 8%, respectively. The Taiwanese MSI doubled its share to 6%, overtaking Apple – its share in in-kind sales decreased from 8% to 3% year-on-year.

A Kommersant source in one of the retailers specified that in July 222,000 laptops worth 13.1 billion rubles were sold. In unit terms, in July, sales, he said, decreased year-on-year by 22%. For the first half of the year, about 1.4 million laptops were sold for 90 billion rubles, estimated at M.Video-Eldorado. This is 10% more than a year earlier, in unit terms and 25% more in monetary terms. According to the results of the second quarter, 510 million laptops worth 30 billion rubles were sold in the Russian Federation.

Asus and Acer in March announced the cessation of supplies to Russia against the backdrop of a military operation in Ukraine. Also in March, official sales in the country were curtailed by Apple, and in early June by HP. In May, The Wall Street Journal, citing sources, reported that Lenovo and Xiaomi were gradually leaving the Russian market in order not to fall under sanctions. The press service of HP reported that “the process of curtailing operations in Russia is completed.” MSI has always had a significant share of the gaming laptop market, the company told Kommersant. Asus and Acer declined to comment. Apple, Huawei and Honor didn’t answer “Kommersant”.

The head of Lenovo in Russia, Alexander Kataev, noted that summer is traditionally a low season for the laptop market: “In July, sales revived due to lower prices by retailers for a number of models and marketing activities.” In August, Mr. Kataev expects even greater growth in sales compared to previous months, but believes that the market will not reach the level of last year due to a decrease in purchasing power.

According to Andrey Latyshev, Head of Laptops at Marvel Distribution, in July, sales of laptops decreased by 21% in units and by 16% in money compared to the same period in 2021. “Taiwanese and American vendors are trying to avoid secondary sanctions, so they stopped deliveries,” he explained. The share of HP remained high due to large inventories,” Mr. Latyshev added. According to his forecast, in the near future the shares of American and Taiwanese vendors will decrease, and they will be replaced by new Chinese and then Russian laptop manufacturers. In August, it became known that the government, large retailers and Russian electronics manufacturers are discussing the idea of ​​subsidizing retail chains advertising costs for domestic laptops, system units and tablets (see Kommersant of August 18).

MTS explained that Honor and Huawei mainly produce mid-range ultrabooks: “This is the most popular type of laptop among Russians, while other vendors also have them, but they cost a little more with similar characteristics.”

Aleksey Dashkevich, Head of the Purchasing Group for the Computers and Notebooks category of Citilink, expects an increase in sales of Citilink’s own brands and Chinese brands in autumn. MegaFon Sales Director David Borzilov believes that it is premature to talk about the restoration of sales to the level of last year due to the suspension of deliveries from major manufacturers. However, according to the results of the fourth quarter, he believes, the dynamics will be positive due to pre-New Year sales.

Anastasia Gavrilyuk