Price distribution
On the morning of September 8, the first information appeared about the prices of the iPhone 14 and 14 Pro smartphones, which were not officially delivered to Russia. Retailer MTS has opened up pre-orders. The page states that the “price will not change at the time of purchase” of the gadget.
The difference in iPhone 14 prices in Russia and the USA is significant. At the official dollar exchange rate of 61 rubles, the gadget is sold for the same price as if one dollar cost 106 rubles.
In Russia, the price is higher than in Europe, where iPhones are traditionally more expensive than in the US. For example, an iPhone 14 with 128 GB of memory costs 84,990 rubles on pre-order in Russia and 999 € in Europe (about 60.5 thousand rubles at the current exchange rate). For such an iPhone 14 in the USA they asked for $ 799 (48.9 thousand rubles at the current exchange rate).
A similar difference is observed in the prices of other models, including the iPhone 14 Pro and the Pro series, which includes the iPhone 14 Pro Max. So, the most expensive version of Apple’s novelty – iPhone 14 Pro Max with 1 TB of memory – will be sold for 166,990 rubles. In Russia, it costs € 2099 (about 127 thousand rubles) in Europe and $ 1599 (97.8 thousand rubles) in the USA.
Telecom Daily CEO Denis Kuskov told socialbites.ca that smartphone prices in Russia could be adjusted, the cost of the iPhone 14 in Russia will be about 50% higher than in the US.
“The bigger the network, the more expensive the iPhone. Each will ship to Russia in their own way, so you should expect a range of prices. For Apple smartphone models already released, the difference was sometimes up to double. “For large retailers, the price tag is explained by the fact that they cost more and have more trust from consumers.”
Ivan Samoylenko, managing partner of B&C Agency, told socialbites.ca that retail chains are now probably setting the highest prices for new devices.
“This is because they cannot exactly predict two things: how high the demand for apple products will be, and what the actual terms and delivery cost of this equipment will be for parallel imports,” said the expert.
Eldar Murtazin, one of the leading analysts of Mobile Research Group, said in a conversation with socialbites.ca that the prices of the iPhone 14 and 14 Pro series indicated by MTS will be adjusted upwards in the near future.
“This is an air sale, they have neither deals nor materials yet. They just assumed and the suppliers will explain to them that these prices are impossible. There will also be an increase,” he said.
Ivan Samoylenko added that with existing pre-orders, customers may be left without new smartphones. “The page shows that the delivery time of the goods can be 120 days from the date of payment (four times longer than the previous time), and in the event of force majeure, the order itself can be canceled,” the expert warned.
Why?
According to Denis Kuskov, rising gadget prices are not only linked to parallel imports. He noted an increase in logistics costs, including an increase in the cost of air freight of large smartphone shipments.
“The person brought 10 iPhones and put a 10% mark on them to undo the trip. A large company might put a 50% profit margin because the supply chain is getting longer and each element is asking for more money,” he added.
Analyst Eldar Murtazin believes logistics affect price, but not as significant as the overall increase in prices for Apple equipment and gray supply outside the US.
“Parallel imports are more affected by the gray market. The difference for the consumer is 30-40% in price advantages and there is no official guarantee anywhere.”
According to Murtazin, parallel imports did not become the main way to buy gadgets from the Russians. “The gray market for iPhones now is half of all sales,” he said.
The analyst added that prices in Europe continue to rise in contrast to the US market, which Apple is holding back to maintain its influence.
“Apple wants to be handsome in its US market and keep prices low. They also restrict re-exports from the US to other countries,” he said.
According to Murtazin, Apple does not expect high sales in European countries due to the risk of inflation and recession, so it calmly raises prices knowing that “someone will buy their product at any price”.
Ivan Samoilenko of B&C Agency believes that such prices for iPhone in Russia are justifiably high, as parallel import programs have not yet been fully sorted out. “Logistics becomes more complex and correspondingly more expensive, there are risks of order cancellations and retailers will incur certain costs to run their trade operations.”
The expert agrees that after a while, new Apple products in Russia will be cheaper.
“Now the demand for the premium segment is most prone to falling, as various statistics show. Russians have been demonstrating crisis consumer behavior standards since the beginning of the year. Those who want to buy a new iPhone should wait a bit to earn on the price,” he said.
Businessman Ilya Bolshakov, CEO of Royal Forest, told socialbites.ca that Russian companies are now cautiously raising prices, not only in retail, but in general, in order to predict the future exchange rate of the ruble against the US dollar.
“With the market on hold, everyone is looking at how the currency will behave,” he said.
According to him, there were already examples of such a reaction in the past when the price of the dollar rose. “Then all sellers indexed prices at the new rate, and when the rate fell again, all suppliers and manufacturers started to lower again,” the entrepreneur added.
Where will they take you?
Mobile analyst Eldar Murtazin is confident that all iPhone 14 models will be shipped from Europe to Russia in the first months after launch.
“European prices have increased a lot this year. The iPhone 13 Pro cost 1,150 euros last year, and the iPhone 14 Pro will sell for 1,300 euros in 2022. The difference is clear, ”explained the expert.
According to him, deliveries will be made from the UAE, Hong Kong and other Asian countries, but later. From there, iPhones will appear in Russia closer to the new year, ”Murtazin explained.
Denis Kuskov of Telecom Daily believes that iPhone 14 models will most actively be imported to Russia from Turkey, UAE and Kazakhstan. “From there it’s easier to bring gadgets into the country, they’re not far away,” he explained.
At the same time, the expert admitted that new gadgets from Apple will be imported from the United States.
“They can bring it in from the US, like when Russia wasn’t in the first wave of iPhone sales. Then they brought it and sold it. Now the same is possible, there will be an extremely small number of smartphones compared to deliveries from other countries, ”says Kuskov.
According to him, smartphones brought from different countries will work the same for Russians. Also, the head of Telecom Daily predicted that the iPhone 14 will start much weaker in Russia than in previous flagship generations.
Source: Gazeta
Christina Moncayo is a contributing writer for “Social Bites”. Her focus is on the gaming industry and she provides in-depth coverage of the latest news and trends in the world of gaming.