Are we switching to buttons? Russian mobile market realities in Q1 2022

From the title “move to budget” began our article on the state of the Russian smartphone market in 2020

year.Now, after not much time, we are talking about push-button telephones. From a fresh report from GS Group researchers, it follows that in the first quarter of the year, deliveries of push-button phones to Russia soared by 43%, reaching the level of 2017 (3.5 million devices). The bulk of them are from the Inoi, F+ and BQ brands. At the same time, smartphone shipments fell by 14% to 6.8 million units.

However, in reality, consumer demand forpushbuttons are stagnating: in the first quarter they were sold 11% less than a year earlier. In other words, the surge in supplies is more likely related to an attempt by retailers to predict a new market trend, which has not yet been confirmed.

In terms of the smartphone market, analysts expectXiaomi, Honor and Realme could force Apple and Samsung out of the market if they don't resume shipping. Thus, the share of Chinese smartphones in Russia may soar to 80%, while the remaining 20% ​​will fall on the remaining official deliveries and parallel imports. At the same time, OPPO and Vivo, which have stopped deliveries to the Russian Federation, are mentioned separately, which may be supplanted by lesser-known brands. There is also a shift in the market structure: if in 2021 the ratio of budget (up to 10,000 rubles), middle peasants (up to 30,000 rubles) and expensive devices was 40-40-20%, now it is 20-60-20%.

© Vladimir Kovalev.

According to GS Group