Parallel supplies of consumer electronics to Russia are falling

The share of parallel imports in the total supply of laptops to Russia decreased by 20%, and tablets by 13%; the trend is also evident in other electronics segments, GS Group said. Experts explain the situation by the strengthening presence of Chinese suppliers in the market and the growth in the production of domestic equipment. Thus, the import of laptops into the country as a whole decreased by more than 40%, tablets – by 26%.

In 2023, the share of supplies of laptops to the Russian Federation through the parallel import mechanism decreased by one and a half times, to 33% of the total import volume, while in 2022 it was 53%, GS Group told Kommersant. In total, 2 million laptops were delivered to the country (a decrease of 41% year-on-year), the company clarified, citing customs statistics.

A similar situation is observed in other segments of consumer electronics. Thus, according to GS Group, the share of tablets imported through parallel imports in total imports over the past year has decreased from 27% to 15%. In total, 1.3 million tablets were imported into Russia in 2023 (26% year-on-year decline). “We can say that almost all consumer electronics manufacturers that have officially left the country, with the exception of Apple, have lost their positions in the Russian Federation,” a GS Group representative emphasized.

After the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine, Apple, Samsung, Dell and many other manufacturers stopped official supplies to the Russian Federation. After this, the Ministry of Industry and Trade compiled a list of products (smartphones, laptops, computers, etc.) that can be imported without the permission of the copyright holder, using the parallel import mechanism.

In 2022–2023, a number of Russian electronics manufacturers proposed to the government to limit parallel imports, but the initiatives were not supported; in December the government extended the mechanism (see Kommersant on December 25).

GS Group attributes the reduction in the share of equipment imported through parallel imports to the fact that a number of Chinese electronics vendors officially entered the Russian market in 2023.

Kommersant’s interlocutor in the electronics market sees another reason: according to him, last year Russian laptop manufacturers increased their production of equipment and entered the consumer segment, reducing the need for distributors for parallel imports. A Kommersant source in a large distributor confirmed that the share of Russian laptops has increased, however, according to him, the vast majority of devices are still sold to government agencies and state-owned companies: “In retail, domestic vendors are almost invisible.”

According to the General Director of INFOLine-Analyst Mikhail Burmistrov, the trend towards a reduction in the share of supplies through parallel imports is noticeable in all segments of consumer electronics: “This is due to the reorientation of buyers to those brands that provide advertising support in Russia, and the development of Russian retailers’ own brands ” According to the analyst, with the development of domestic brands and the continued entry of Chinese suppliers into the Russian market, the share of parallel imports may decrease by several more percentage points by the end of 2024.

In such conditions, says GS Group Vice President for Production Development Fedor Boyarkov, in order to increase and develop the production of domestic equipment, it is necessary to think again about banning parallel imports.

However, Anton Guskov, a representative of the Russian Association of Trading Companies and Manufacturers of Electrical Household and Computer Equipment (RATEK, which includes Samsung, DNS, Huawei, etc.), does not agree with him. According to him, the mechanism of parallel imports should be preserved, since if it is completely banned, there may be a shortage and a decrease in competition in some segments of consumer electronics.

Timofey Kornev