Expert: Most of Russians have no plans to buy new iPhone 7

MOSCOW, Sep 7 (PRIME) -- Three quarters of Russians, polled by Hi-Tech Mail.Ru, do not plan to buy the new iPhone 7, which Apple is going to unveil later on Wednesday, as compared to a third willing to buy the previous model last year, Internet giant Mail.Ru Group said in a statement.

“Apple is fighting against the gray market and suing several big players in Russia. As a result, immediately after the start of sales in Europe and the U.S. imports could be at the lowest on record, excluding the iPhone SE, which failed to show potential in orders at unofficial stores,” Anton Spiridonov, director for strategic communications at the group’s project Hi-Tech Mail.Ru, said.

“Prices of the first supplied models will be the same, at 100,000–120,000 rubles, with the start of world sales traditionally taking place a week after the presentation. It’s still early to comment on prices in official retail; we expect them to be at 60,000 and 70,000 rubles for minimum configurations, while a decrease in prices of the previous models could be some 10%.”

Lower interest of Russian customers to Apple’s new flagship smartphone is explained by increased ruble-denominated prices and appearance of strong competitors.

Only a third of those willing to buy the device ready to spend more than 50,000 rubles, and only 2% are ready to pay over 90,000 rubles.

Retailers are optimistic about the new device despite the economic situation. Multi-channel retailer Svyaznoy said the iPhone sales brought domestic retailers almost a third of revenue from smartphone sales in January–June.

(64.8306 rubles – U.S. $1)

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