#Russia #Samsung #apple #Import # Russia # Import # Parallel Import

Although the largest manufacturers like Samsung and Apple did not declare the final gap of trade relations with Russia, the supply of their products to the country was suspended. Retailers rated the reserves of smartphones on their warehouses and are preparing to build alternative logistics chains, and the authorities are considering measures to support domestic business.

According to RBC, referring to representatives of the Russian retail, the reserves of electronics from Apple and Samsung, as well as other brands that have limited delivery to the country are enough for two or three months. The US sanction pressure forces many foreign companies to abandon the supply of many types of equipment and electronics. Although formally consumer devices like smartphones do not fall into this list, many companies have suspended exports to Russia. In particular, Apple not only stopped selling, but also limited the use of some of its services, including Apple Pay, and Samsung has long suspended the supply of electronics and components, referring to problems with logistics. According to RBC, there is already a deficiency of older iPhone 11 and 12, newly gained popularity against the background of the deficit and price increase.

According to experts, Samsung, which occupied 32.1% of the share of the smartphone market in 2021, will be partially repayed by Chinese brands - alone Xiaomi (with POCO) last year occupied almost a third of the market. At the same time, the delivery of experts to Russia will reduce Chinese brands in Russia - both in connection with real problems with logistics and due to the oscillations of the ruble exchange rate.

The EU sanctions package provides for the ban on exports to Russia's electricity more than € 750, which will not greatly affect the sales of smartphones in pieces. According to the head of Marvel-Distribution, Alexei Melnikova "Premium brands in the segment of household appliances and previously occupied less than 5% of the market, and with the current level of devaluation, the consumer choice is shifted towards more budget models, so it is not necessary to talk about substantial damage from EU sanctions" . Although no European company is a major exporter of smartphones to Russia, large logistics nodes are traditionally located in Europe, therefore the supply of even non-European brands from the EU is limited.

In response to sanctions, the authorities are considering the possibility of legalizing parallel imports, which will allow the manufacturer without direct permission to import substantive goods into the country, not produced in Russia. The draft resolution was prepared by the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) and concerns the import of a number of goods not produced in Russia, as well as components that do not have domestic analogues, including we can talk about brand products like Apple. According to the Ministry of Industry, this is the possible cancellation of the responsibility of Russian companies for parallel imports - Russian companies can not be punished for the import of goods besides the official distribution channels. In this case, it is not about the legalization of counterfeit, namely, on the import of real brand electronics with alternative channels.