FOCUS: Smartphone sales growth shrinks in 2019 on preference of durable models

By Yekaterina Yezhova

MOSCOW, Jan 27 (PRIME) -- Russia’s smartphone sales growth halved in 2019 as customers buy more expensive devices but use them longer, the country’s leading retailers said and forecast continuation of the current trends with possible stagnation on the market in 2020.

The market increased 7.2% in 2019 to some 495 billion rubles, while it swelled 18.8% in 2018, according to M.Video-Eldorado Group. In units, sales went up 1.5% in 2019 to 30 million in comparison to a 2.4% rise a year earlier.

Retailer Know-How said smartphone sales rose 8% in money and 5% in units in 2019.

“In 2020, the market would stagnate or shrink moderately. The trends and preferences of 2019 will most likely remain. Support of the 5G standard will be of small importance because the country has no such networks yet,” Oleg Kharchevnikov, commercial director of Know-How, told PRIME.

Vladimir Chaika, head of the mobile electronics department at M.Video-Eldorado, said that a smartphone serves routinely as a wallet, a camera, a working tool, even a remote control for a kettle or a smart home system. “When choosing such a device, users are more rational and buy it for two to three years, till new significant innovations emerge,” he said in a statement.

In 2019, Apple led in money with its popular iPhone 11. In units, Samsung had 30% of the market, while Huawei and Honor also had a third of the market together, according to M.Video-Eldorado.

Samsung, Honor, Xiaomi, Apple and Huawei accounted for 92% of the market in money and 82% in units.

The smartphone replacement period rose to two or two and a half years, which favors more functional and productive models in a price range of 10,000–20,000 rubles. The segment gained 25% in money and 10% in units. The devices with a price tag of over 50,000 rubles were also very popular and their segment expanded 30% in money and 25% in units, M.Video-Eldorado said.

Kharchevnikov at Know-How confirmed higher demand for smartphones for 5,000–20,000 and over 50,000 rubles.

Popularity of expensive smartphones pushed the average price up by 6.5% in 2019 to 16,500 rubles, M.Video-Eldorado said, while Know-How saw the indicator up 3%.

Trends

The sellers said buyers favor large-screen smartphones with multiple-module cameras and double slots for SIM cards.

“People tend to buy a more expensive phone for a longer period with a wide screen, the near-field communication (NFC) option and memory of at least 32 GB,” Kharchevnikov at Know-How said.

The share of devices wider than 5 inches exceeded 75% of the market, and of the models narrower than 4 inches fell to 1%. All key devices produced in 2019 had a screen of at least 6 inches, and the first devices of over 7 inches in diagonal were released on the market, M.Video-Eldorado said.

The edgeless trend strengthened, and the screen can now cover more than 99% of the front panel as manufacturers move the fingerprint scanner to the back panel and make the pop-up front camera module.

Demand for smartphones with memory over 128 GB increased 150%, the share of models with the main camera from 16 MP with three or four modules also expanded.

In natural terms, the share of devices with 4G stood at 93%, 90% had slots for two SIM cards, and 70% of devices had biometry authentication.

The most extraordinary novelty on the 2019 market was Samsung Galaxy Fold with a flexible bezel-less display.

(61.8031 rubles – U.S. $1)

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