Samsung, not Apple, leads Russia smartphones on U.S. tension

Apple’s sales performance in Russia is being impacted by tensions with the U.S., but interest in iPhone 13 remains strong

Apple’s sales performance in Russia is being impacted by tensions with the U.S., but interest in many of that nation’s regions remains strong with iPhone the third-biggest selling smartphone there.

Russia becomes Samsung country

That’s the data as revealed by Burga’s latest research report, which claims Apple holds just 15% of Russia’s smartphone market. Otherwise, Russia has adopted smartphones from its Eastern neighbors: With 34% share, Samsung dominates while Xiaomi holds 26 percent of the national smartphone market. Poco has 3% while Realme holds 8% of the market.

“Worth noting is that the reception of American brands in Russia has been impacted by the perennial tensions between the countries, a factor likely affecting Apple,” the researchers said.

“A significant topic of contention involves privacy issues, with the U.S. accusing Russia of sponsoring hackers to infiltrate state agencies. In this line, Apple has opposed the government’s directive on selling devices with pre-installed Russian applications in it. Apple believes the move defeats the company’s stand on observing user privacy.”

Samsung has instead announced it will comply with Russia’s demand that smartphones be sold with pre-installed Russian software. The report notes this decision is popular in Russia and in conjunction with Samsung’s lower prices is turning into market share gains.

I can imagine the moment the designer drew this blueprint after so many iterations

But interest is high in some regions

As of December 19th, Google search for the keyword ‘‘iPhone 13” attained peak popularity of 100 in Moscow. In Sakhalin Oblast, the phrase has a score of 83 to rank second, while Moskovsky is third with the same score. Saint Petersburg is fourth with a popularity score of 80, followed by Kabardino-Balkaria at 70.

One problem when it comes to iPhone sales in Russia is price.

“Russians have no existing subsidies to purchase the iPhone as they have to pay in full. This complicates the limited demand aspect, pushing residents to focus on cheaper devices,” the report said.

Exchange rate fluctuations also damage prospects, they claim.

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