FOCUS: Appetite for costly edgy phones boosts 2021 sales to 730 bln rbl

By Yekaterina Yezhova

MOSCOW, Jan 24 (PRIME) -- The Russian market of smartphones ballooned by a third to 730 billion rubles in 2021, shrinking slightly in natural terms, as the buyers preferred technically sophisticated pricey devices, the trend that market players think will continue in 2022.

“According to MTS’, 30 million smartphones were sold in Russia in 2021 worth 730 billion rubles. In money terms, the market grew by 28%, but narrowed by 2% in natural terms. The number of purchased devices decreased because Russians now want smartphones for a longer period of exploitation. In 2021, the average period of owning mobile gadgets exceeded 40 months,” Alexei Merkutov, press secretary of mobile operator MTS, which also runs a wide retail chain, told PRIME.

Electronics retailer M.Video-Eldorado Group released the same sales figures. “The smartphone category stays the Russian electronics market driver and the largest segment by sales. The device has turned into an integral part of our life – it is the main tool of communication, shopping and payments, entertainment, taking pictures and videos, and other goals,” Nikita Tikhvinsky, head of the digital devices department at M.Video-Eldorado, said in a statement.

A strong interest to the devices with a price tag of over 50,000 rubles, whose sales in natural terms spiked by 70%, remained one of the key 2021 trends. “Their share almost doubled, reaching 14% in units and over 45% in cash. Over 95% of the smartphones worth 50,000 rubles and more are by Apple and Samsung,” the group said.

In natural terms, the share of smartphones worth less than 10,000 rubles fell to 30% in 2021 from 44% in 2020; the share of devices at a price of less than 20,000 rubles climbed to 40% from 36%; the share of devices for 20,000–50,000 rubles went up to 16% from 12%; and the share of gadgets for more than 50,000 rubles rose to 14% from 8%, M.Video-Eldorado said.

“The average price advanced by 31% in 2021 to 24,200 rubles because more Russians opted for more expensive models,” Merkutov at MTS said. “Sales of the devices up to 5,000 rubles decreased by 50% and from 5,000 to 10,000 rubles by 30%.”

A spokesperson for mobile operator Tele2, which also runs a retail chain, said that the flow of buyers to a more expensive segment continued in 2021. “Now the performance and capacity features of a device, the quality of a screen and a camera, and the battery became very important for the bulk of clients,” the spokesperson told PRIME.

“The customers became choosier and turn to new segments with higher prices. Moreover, the ongoing deficit of components on the global markets will impact the price growth strongly.”

According to MTS, one of the main 2021 trends was also switching to larger and heavier models. “The average weight of gadgets amounted to 190 grams, up 8.4% on the year. The width rose by 2.4% to 8.7 millimetres, and the display diagonal added 2.5% to 6.37 inches,” Merkutov said.

 “Smartphone batteries last longer. The average battery capacity increased by 12% in 2021 to 4,430 mAh. The trend was supported by Apple whose iPhone 13 and 13 Pro Max have batteries by 16% and 18.5%, respectively, more powerful than the 2020 models.”

According to M.Video-Eldorado, 88% of the devices sold in the country are equipped with biometric sensors and display diagonal of 6–7 inches, 75% have the batteries from 4,000 mAh, 70% have the NFC chip for contactless payment, and 17% support eSIM, a function of an electronic SIM card.

Tele2 expects that the smartphones with the eSIM feature will account for a quarter of the market in two years from 5% at present.

In money terms, Apple had 43.2% of the market in 2021, Samsung 26.7%, Xiaomi and Poco 18.4%, Realme 3.3%, and Honor 3.1%, Merkutov at MTS said. The 2021 top five devices were Apple iPhone 11 with 128 GB and 64 GB, the iPhone 12 with 128 GB, 12 Pro Max with 256 GB, and 12 Pro with 128 GB.

In natural terms, Samsung led with 32.1% and was followed by Xiaomi and Poco with 29.1%, Apple with 15.2%, Realme with 5% and Honor with 3.8%. The five bestsellers were Xiaomi Redmi 9A, Apple iPhone 11 with 128 GB, Samsung Galaxy A12 with 32 GB and 64 GB, and Xiaomi Redmi 9.

“We expect increasing demand for expensive models of smartphones and further growth of the average price to continue in 2022,” Merkutov told PRIME.

(76.6903 rubles – U.S. $1)

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