The "gray market» iPhone Apple undermines development in Russia
Makradar Technologies / / December 19, 2019
September 20 fresh models of Apple smart phones began to be sold in eleven countries... In addition to one, but a very large.
Gadgets can officially buy in China, but not in Russia. In this key emerging market the latest iPhone models will be only a few months after the release. This means that the so-called "gray market" imports phones undermines sales of local telecom operators, Apple slowing development in Russia - just at a time when the company needs to increase sales in emerging markets.
Large Russian service providers, such as VimpelCom, MTS and Megafon, earlier supplying the iPhone, but they stop their contracts when faced with the obligation to purchase large volumes of phones. They were happy to sign new contracts with Apple, but negotiations have stalled because of too high kupertinovtsy requirements. Meanwhile, operators have a good incentive to promote competition gadgets - eg, the Samsung and Nokia.
Apple declined to comment. CEO Tim Cook played down the importance of the situation of operators in a conference call in July, noting that more than 80% of smartphone sales in Russia through retail stores, but not in stores operators. He said that the number of iPhone activations in the country set a record in the last quarter.
Unlike the US, the main Russian operators do not subsidize smartphones to customers in exchange for long-term contracts, thus reducing the incentive to purchase the phone through an operator.
Although the operators and do not participate in the game, the Russians are not left far behind in the race for the new iPhone. It is expected that the official sales will begin in Russia until December but the resourceful Russian, who can not wait to get novelty gadgets acquire in countries where they are already on sale.
"We received a lot of calls, mostly from young women who want a gold iPhone 5S», - says Vladimir Boyarinov, manager of the online store doniphone.ru. "They say that for them the price is not important." Thus, more than one phone purchased in Frankfurt for 899 euros (a little more than 39-thousand rubles for a model with 64 GB of memory), were sold at doniphone.ru for 70 thousand rubles per copy.
The Russians are also lined up around the world to buy the phone in person. Napirimer, in Paris, a group of about 50 Russians spent Thursday night in line, sitting on the sidewalk, waiting for the phone purchase.
Good work of the Russian "gray market" in terms of sales "apple" phones, of course, complicated the life of operators, and they in turn stopped cooperation after failing to perform sales volumes. Despite these results, the leaders of operators in Russia say that Apple continues to insist on the fact that in the new contracts remained the same conditions in terms of volume sales.
Apple logic in relation to the Russian market does not give an explanation ...