Enlarge image
The iPhone SE presented in mid-March is unlikely to be officially available in Russian stores for the foreseeable future
Photo: MIKE SEGAR/ REUTERS
Russian retailers are apparently preparing to stop selling Apple and Samsung phones in two to three months.
This is what it says in a report by the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) last Thursday, which the portal “The Pioneer” reported on Monday.
Accordingly, the stock of iPhones and Galaxy cell phones in the country should then be exhausted.
According to statistical surveys, Apple and Samsung sold around half of all new smartphones in Russia last year.
The development was basically foreseeable, as the two major mobile phone manufacturers had already scaled back their business with Russia at the beginning of March.
Apple announced a few days after the Russian invasion began that it would suspend sales of its products in Russia.
Samsung also declared at the time that it would no longer ship cell phones and chips to Russia.
According to »The Pioneer«, the BND assumes that the development will have an impact on everyday life.
According to the report, there will be "almost certainly a significant step backwards in the digitization of everyday life, as perceived by Russian society".
The gap left by Apple and Samsung could be filled by Chinese manufacturers such as Xiaomi or Huawei, which according to statistics are currently in third and fourth place in the Russian smartphone market.
However, the companies would hold back with their support.
The BND officials report that this is partly due to the “western sanctions backdrop”.
In fact, the Chinese manufacturers are in a dilemma in the face of the Russian invasion, reports the Financial Times.
On the one hand, they face sanctions that could slow down smartphone production, for example.
According to the newspaper, a US official responsible for export permits threatened to take action against Chinese companies that circumvent sanctions against Russia.
On the other hand, Chinese manufacturers are already benefiting from the withdrawal of Western companies.
According to Russia's largest mobile operator, MTS, the number of Huawei smartphones sold in Russia increased by 300 percent in the first two weeks of March.
Chinese corporations also benefited from the Russian invasion of Crimea, a telecommunications expert told the Financial Times.
Accordingly, after the annexation of the peninsula, western telecommunications technology was replaced by products from Huawei and ZTE.
hpp
