PRESS: Share of new smartphone brands in Russia grows to 18.6%

MOSCOW, Dec 21 (PRIME) -- The share of minor brands, or B-brands, of smartphones on the Russian market increased to 18.6% of all sales in October as compared to 12.7% in the same period of 2015, business daily Vedomosti reported Wednesday, citing a partner of several electronic manufacturers.

Dmitry Solodovnikov, a spokesperson for MTS, a mobile operator running its own monobrand retail chain, confirmed the data on growth of B-brands, such as Dexp, Senseit, as well as Xiaomi, Meizu, BQ-Mobile, and others.

According to a Deloitte research, released earlier in 2016, 37% of Russian subscribers use B-branded smartphones as compared to 28% in 2015 and 24% in 2014.

The most popular minor brands were Lenovo, Fly and Alcatel, as Deloitte said. As A-brands, the researcher views Samsung, Apple, Nokia, HTC, LG and Sony.

Sergei Tikhonov, a spokesperson for handset retailer Svyaznoy, said Meizu and Xiaomi entered the local market earlier in 2016. There are manufacturers that have expanded or maintained their presence in the country. Sales of such brands as Jinga, Senseit, and Ginzzu have grown over the year, Tikhonov said.

New brands impact sales of well-known companies. For example, buyers choose Xiaomi smartphones instead of various models of flagship devices from A-brands. Low-priced smartphones from Senseit become the first for many, Tikhonov said.

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