PRESS: Sales of super-costly smartphones spike in units in Jan–Mar

MOSCOW, Apr 16 (PRIME) -- Sales of smartphones with a price of more than 100,000 rubles doubled on the year in units in Russia in January–March amid the ruble’s fall and concerns about a shortage in gadgets, business daily Vedomosti reported on Thursday citing estimates of mobile operator MTS, which also runs a large retail chain.

The most popular smartphone for more than 100,000 rubles is the iPhone 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max, an MTS representative said. Till the middle of March, some 60% of devices for more than 100,000 rubles had been purchased in credit, but the share halved to 30% in the second half of the month and 70% of super-expensive gadgets were paid on spot.

Retailer Citilink also saw an increased demand for smartphones, including top brands like Apple and Samsung.

(73.7145 rubles – U.S. $1)

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