FOCUS: Russian retailers expect high demand for new iPhones, on sale Fri

By Yekaterina Yezhova

MOSCOW, Sep 19 (PRIME) -- The Apple fandom in Russia will see on Friday an official launch of sales of the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, a new generation of the smartphones securing the manufacturer some 60% of its total revenue. Russia’s biggest retailers anticipate that it will create a furor amid quite a high level of loyalty to the brand and advanced features of the devices.

“A launch of any Apple gadget in Russia triggers a wave of excitement, and the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus won’t be exceptions. We believe the new devices will provoke much fuss thanks to a number of reasons, including new features like an innovative design and expanded options of cameras,” Svyaznoy’s spokesman Sergei Tikhonov told PRIME. The retailer opened pre-orders for the new smartphones on September 16.

The U.S. company presented the iPhone 7 and the iPhone 7 Plus on September 7 with first sales debuting in 25 countries on September 16.

“The completely redesigned cameras shoot incredible photos and videos day or night, the A10 Fusion chip is the most powerful chip on any smartphone while delivering the best battery life ever in an iPhone, and an entirely new stereo speaker system provides twice the sound, all within the first water and dust resistant iPhone,” Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing, said at the presentation.

The iPhone 7 Plus features the same 12-megapixel wide angle camera as the iPhone 7 and adds a 12-megapixel telephoto camera. The new iPhones run on iOS 10 and will be available in silver, gold, rose gold and two all-new black finishes: matte and jet black ones.

Below is a breakdown of prices of the new smartphones on Apple’s official Web site, in rubles:

Model/Memory	32 GB	128 GB	256 GB
iPhone 7	56,990	65,990	74,990
iPhone 7 Plus	67,990	76,990	85,990

Sellers expect a huge rush and a high demand for the new smartphones. “The iPhone 7 Plus will most likely enjoy a wider popularity than the previous iPhone 6s Plus model. New jet black and matte black colors will provoke a special demand,” Alexei Shirokov, director of the purchases department at electronics retailer Euroset, said.

Alexei Stepanenko, deputy commercial director at Moscow Region-focused retailer Know-How, said demand for the new smartphone, which is a completely new model, will be more intense than a year ago when Apple offered the iPhone 6s and the iPhone 6s Plus, extensions of the previous models. “Besides, an official start of sales in Russia will be just seven days after the first wave,” he said.

“As to popular models, consumers will be most likely interested in the jet black-colored devices. We are witnessing growing attention among visitors in our stores to models in this finish. As to the volume of memory, it’s still quite difficult to say because a gap in prices between 32 GB and 128 GB is sensible.

“Most of customers could get by with 32 GB, but the space necessary for comfortable use is rising all the time. In such a way, the demand pendulum could swing from the current bestseller of 64 GB to either of the two extremes.”

The latest model has already slightly overturned prices of its predecessors. Svyaznoy cut prices of the previous models, like the iPhone 6s family and SE, by more than 10% on average.

“Lower prices of the iPhone 6s will become extra impetus for sales of Apple smartphones,” Shirokov at Euroset said.

Tikhonov at Svyaznoy said loyalty to the U.S. brand is still strong in Russia. “In addition to an advanced design and performance, customers like Apple’s ecosystem, which encourages them to buy other different Apple’s devices,” he said.

“The iPhone is one of the most popular smartphones in Russia and one of the three bestsellers by units. Its sales bring domestic retailers the highest revenue from smartphones, or almost a third.”

Tikhonov explained popularity of the iPhone by several factors: a wide model range presented in various price segments and a gamut of credit offers at retailers. “Now one can buy an iPhone for less than 25,000 rubles, which is a bargain when prices of electronics have been rising over the recent years. Buying smartphones on a loan is also becoming a popular solution,” he said.

A source on the retail market told PRIME that iPhone sales spiked 88% on the year in money and 80% in units in January–June.

“Sales of Apple’s smartphones rocketed 77% on the year in revenue in the first half of 2016 and by 69% in units. An average price of a device added 5% to 37,000 rubles,” Shirokov at Euroset said.

Stepanenko at Know-How said iPhone sales in the Moscow Region, the most lucrative in the country, amounted to 19 billion rubles in January–June, or 450,000 units.

“The iPhone 7 and 7 Plus will stimulate sales on the domestic smartphone market. We expect smartphone sales to show a double-digit growth in rubles and at least a 10% increase in units,” Tikhonov at Svyaznoy said.

Total smartphone sales in the country expanded 37% on the year to 138 billion rubles in January–June. Sales climbed 10% in units to 11 million, according to Svyaznoy’s statistics.

(64.9940 rubles – U.S. $1)

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