Russians close laptops – Kommersant

In the first quarter, according to retailers, sales of laptops in pieces in Russia fell by almost a quarter, and demand for personal computers – by 6% year-on-year. In monetary terms, both segments sank by more than 30%. Market participants explain such a decline by an increase in the share of Russian and Chinese brands, which are cheaper in price. Expert opinions are divided: some are sure that by the end of the year Russian PC and laptop manufacturers will already occupy a significant market share, others believe that this will continue to be hindered by parallel imports of foreign solutions.

Sales of laptops in Russia in physical terms for the first quarter of 2023 fell by 20%, to 812 thousand devices, in money terms the drop was 33% compared to the same period last year, to 45.5 billion rubles, “sales fell the most from the departed brands, namely HP (by 74%), Acer (by 62%), Asus (by 67%), Dell (by 75%), Apple (by 34%) and others, “Kommersant was told in Holodilnik .ru. According to the retailer, Chinese devices such as Haier (up 23%), ThundeRobot (over 100%), Chuwi (over 100%) and Taiwanese Gigabyte (up 42%) showed the largest growth.

In desktop computers, according to the retailer, the year-on-year drop in unit sales in the first quarter was 6%, to 278,000 devices. In money terms, the market fell by 31% to 12.1 billion rubles. Sales of Lenovo, HP and Russian Depo decreased the most. The Russian iRU became the best-selling brand, its share in pieces is 20% (15% a year earlier). F+ tech-Marvel confirmed that in the desktop PC segment, Russian brands performed better in the first quarter than a year earlier: for example, in addition to iRU, Ardor Gaming and Rombica increased their share.

The fall in the market as a whole was a consequence of the rush demand for equipment in the first half of 2022, provoked by the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine.

But already in the fall, demand began to fall, as a result, there was an overstocking of unsold laptops from MSI, HP and others (see “Kommersant” dated February 13).

In addition, they add to Holodilnik.ru, Russians began to buy low-price devices. Demand for a PC is cheaper than 18 thousand rubles. for the year grew by 84%, for devices up to 25 thousand rubles – by 73%. At the same time, demand for the middle segment (from 50 thousand to 150 thousand rubles) decreased by 33%, and for expensive models (more than 150 thousand rubles) – by 77%. A similar situation, according to the retailer, is in the laptop segment: the most popular category was devices worth 17–20 thousand rubles.

According to M.Video-Eldorado, the share of Russian laptops in sales for the first quarter almost doubled, “this was facilitated by the expansion of the range in the base segment, up to 25 thousand rubles, and since the end of last year, solutions have appeared in the middle segment – 25 -50 thousand rubles. According to a representative of the network, about 40 models of Russian companies are now presented in stores and online platforms, including Irbis, F + and Prestigio. But the most active growth, according to M.Video-Eldorado, is still observed in Chinese brands.

Citilink clarifies that the market for computers and laptops in pieces in the first quarter decreased by 30-35% compared to last year.

In desktop computers, the network notes an increase in demand for products from Russian manufacturers, and for laptops, Chinese ones.

The growth in sales of Russian solutions is associated with benefits for manufacturers and the expansion of capacities within the country, says Renat Yusupov, vice president of the computer manufacturer Kraftway. According to him, at the end of 2022, Russian companies stocked up on the necessary components and, thanks to competition among themselves, began to reduce prices. According to Mr. Yusupov, by the end of 2023, domestic devices can increase their share by one and a half times thanks to subsidizing the purchase of components by the state. Kommersant’s interlocutor among large distributors confirms that the share of Russian manufacturers is growing. “Only in our country it increased from 23% to 40%,” he notes.

However, not all market participants are optimistic. Thus, Oleg Fomenko, head of Merlion’s broadband access purchasing department, believes that due to established chains of parallel imports of foreign products, the share of domestic brands in the market will decrease by the end of the year.

Timofey Kornev