Analyst Murtazin explained whether there will be enough laptops for the Russians after a sharp drop in supplies.
Photo: Ivan MAKEEV
So-so news. The GS Group analytical center calculated that from January to November, 65% fewer laptops (about 2.8 million units) were imported into Russia than during the same period in 2021. Sanctions and voluntary withdrawal of companies foreign companies in our country mainly affected the supply of equipment from European brands: HP, Lenovo, Asus and Acer. In March-April, I remember, the prices for these models skyrocketed, so sellers tried to keep the products available for sale. Due to the increased demand, there was a high risk of instantly emptying the warehouses and being left with empty shelves. The maneuver was successful. While prices were holding up, deliveries from China poured into Russia and Chinese laptops flooded the market at very attractive prices.
The year is coming to an end, it’s time to take stock. So the shares of European laptop brands are down, but there are more brands like Huawei, Honor and MSI, Tecno, Infinix and Realme.
ONLY NUMBERS
2.76 million laptops were imported into Russia in 2022 (January-November), 65% less than the same period in 2021.
How laptop sales fell / grew
Photo: VALIULIN nail
Mobile Research Principal Analyst Eldar Murtazin believes these figures are exaggerated. According to him, the importation of laptops has decreased by 40%.
– First of all, this happened at the expense of corporate consumers and government agencies, – explains the expert. – But it’s not critical. Today you can buy any laptop from different manufacturers. Yes, European deliveries have fallen, but Chinese have grown. At the same time, prices, on average, for laptops haven’t changed much. Except some models. By the way, even if some models of laptops are not available now, there are analogues from other brands.
According to Murtazin, if you give an example, the most significant now is the MacBook Air. Its sales dropped significantly, while the price increased by 40 percent. However, there is a new player on the market: TecnoMegaBook. Just started selling. In terms of performance, it is a bit behind the MacBook, but it is quite decent according to many experts.
“This year people have become more rational and pay less attention to brands,” says Eldar Murtazin. – The main thing is the price-quality ratio. To serve for a long time and not cost a lot of money.
But there is another important point. Against the background of official parallel imports, the gray market is actively growing in the country. And laptop prices remained at their pre-penalty level. In the same Avito is full of offers for the sale of different models of laptops. Moreover, often these are not private traders, but office crayons who live by importing equipment in small batches, almost in suitcases. Prices for such models are 20-25% lower than in stores.
Sales on the gray market have grown, but at the same time they are not taken into account in any way and bypassed by statistics.
BY THE WAY
Pirates can get the green light
Experts from the Institute for the Development of Entrepreneurship and the Economy suggested that the government allow Russian companies to use pirated software. In today’s environment, when Western software has been banned due to sanctions, many companies have found themselves in a difficult situation. The use of official software is prevented by the refusal of Western developers to renew licences, and installing pirated software carries heavy fines and even prison terms. A letter has already been sent to the Ministry of Digital Transformation with a request to give the green light to unlicensed software before switching to other permitted analogues. We are awaiting the response of the officials.
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