The firmware was released - Newspaper Kommersant No. 47 (7492) dated 03/21/2023

The firmware was released - Newspaper Kommersant No. 47 (7492) dated 03/21/2023



Private craftsmen and small service centers began to provide services for changing the region code sewn into the Samsung phone. PC programs, instructions for which are published on specialized forums, allow you to enable Samsung Pay on devices not intended for Russia. Large chains of stores and service centers, however, offer maximum advice - Kommersant's sources explain this by possible technical problems in the operation of firmware not designed for specific device models.

Kommersant asked stores and service centers about the possibility of changing the region code on Samsung phones. The operability of the Samsung Pay contactless payment system, in particular, depends on the region code: you can add Mir cards of Russian banks only to devices with a Russian code. The readiness to reflash a Samsung phone from belonging to Kazakhstan to Russian was confirmed at the SamsungRepair service centers (Moscow, 950 rubles) and re-Center (St. Petersburg, 4.5 thousand rubles).

Samsung and Apple, after the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine, stopped supplying phones to the Russian Federation. After the legalization of parallel imports, importing suppliers began to import phones intended for other markets into the country. The departure of Visa and Mastercard actually disabled all regular contactless payment systems for Russian customers, but Samsung Pay in the Russian Federation continued to provide payments from Mir cards.

Linking the payment system to the region code built into the phone is a feature of Samsung, for Apple it depends on the region of the account, which can be changed without unauthorized intervention. Changing the region on Samsung devices is carried out using a PC and amateur software (SamKey, SamFw FRP Tool), instructions for using it are published on specialized forums.

In large networks (Pedant.ru) and in service centers listed on the Samsung website as official ("Your mobile service", "Telemix", etc.), they refused to change the region of the phone. But services for changing the region, “installing” or “unlocking” Samsung Pay are offered by private masters on Avito, prices range from 500 to 5 thousand rubles. A sales assistant at one of the Samsung mono-brand stores in Moscow (Nosimo LLC) said that it was technically possible to “activate” Samsung Pay on phones not intended for Russia, but recommended installing the Mir Pay payment system from NSPK.

The staff of M.Video-Eldorado can "advise the visitor free of charge on the available methods of activating the payment service," the company told Kommersant. Citilink says that they do not provide services for changing the region. The Russian division of Samsung did not respond to a request.

The relevance of Samsung region change services has grown with the release of Galaxy S23 phones in February 2023. Interest in the topic, however, has been steadily growing since the summer. According to the Yandex.Word Selection service, in May 2022, users made 395 requests to change the region, and in February 2023 - 886. The peak was in March 2022 - 1.2 thousand requests.

Large companies do not engage in unauthorized modification of phones, fearing that “technical problems will appear later,” says a Kommersant source in the electronics market: “It cannot be ruled out that firmware that is not designed for a specific device model will not work correctly. Then the customer will decide that the store has broken his phone.”

Most stores and service centers "expect that the situation will normalize and they will again work with at least some of the world's manufacturers," says Denis Kuskov, CEO of Telecom Daily. In his opinion, the fact that "Russian" updates are available for phones that were not officially released in the Russian Federation "may mean Samsung's desire to work in Russia."

Yuri Litvinenko



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