Large retailers (MTS, Svyaznoy, DNS and M.Video) have started a war for the consumer, lowering the prices of smartphones. As Izvestia found out, the iPhone 12, the folding Samsung Galaxy Flip and other models of expensive phones began to sell at a discount of 10-25 thousand rubles. The first to start dumping MTS, and its competitors could not help but respond to the challenge, said a source in the market. Retailers are trying to boost demand for smartphones after stagnating sales earlier this year. But by the end of March, prices will return to their previous level, and maybe even rise, experts say.
Voiced promotions
A number of large retailers have made discounts on smartphones, not only on models from previous years, but also on those released several months ago. So, iPhone 12 pro Max with 256 GB memory can be bought for 110 thousand rubles at the official price on the Apple website at 120 thousand rubles. iPhone Pro with 512 GB memory is sold for 120 thousand rubles, which is also 10 thousand rubles cheaper than the official price of the gadget.
The same situation is with the prices of Samsung smartphones. The second version of the Galaxy Z Fold 2 foldable gadget, released in the fall, can be purchased for 25 thousand less – for 155 thousand rubles instead of 180 thousand rubles on the MTS website. This year’s new Samsung products can also be purchased at a discount price – some models of the Samsung Galaxy S21 line, as well as other smartphones from popular manufacturers.
Before the gender holidays (February 23 and March 8), MTS stepped up marketing activity in order to increase customer traffic in sales offices and the flow to the online store, the operator’s press service said. According to the promotion, you can purchase both top-end gadgets like the latest iPhone and Samsung Galaxy models, as well as more affordable devices from Xiaomi and Honor, the company added.
Photo: RIA Novosti / Evgeny Odinokov
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The level of prices for goods in Svyaznoy is the result of market pricing, commented Mikhail Dogadin, Vice President for Procurement and Development of the company. Now the retailer has discounts on a number of models – for example, you can buy Samsung and Apple smartphones at a significant discount, he added.
Inventive Retail Group (owns the Re: Store chain) Izvestia was told that the last time the iPhone prices were adjusted was on January 23rd. The retailer looks closely at competitors and is sensitive to changes in market pricing, the company added.
M.Video and Eldorado now offer more than 200 models of smartphones with a discount of up to 25%, which apply to models from all price segments, including popular flagships, the press service of the merged company noted. Favorable prices apply to devices and other popular brands: Xiaomi Honor, Realme, OPPO, vivo, commented in the retailer.
Photo: TASS / Vladimir Gerdo
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Samsung, Citylink and Megafon declined to comment. At the time of publication, Apple, Xiaomi and Honor did not respond to Izvestia’s request.
Take by number
Retail price wars happen regularly and are part of the competition for customer and market share. Sometimes there are serious fights, which are reflected in a sharp decline in prices for certain categories, models or brands, commented a source in the cellular retail market.
This time, MTS was the first to start cutting prices for smartphones in February. It was followed by DNS and M.Video.
MTS, apparently, is not very happy with its share in sales in Russia and began to actively knock down the price tags, trying to get back what was lost, the source said. In such circumstances, key players cannot but respond to this challenge, he added.
Photo: TASS / Anton Novoderezhkin
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According to the source of the publication, the representatives of manufacturers will not stand aside, they will react and try to put things in order in the price offer through negotiations.
– The difficulty is that the manufacturer, according to the law, has no right to dictate at what prices retailers should trade. But sometimes it comes to the point that manufacturers simply block the supply of goods to the network, which does not respond to his recommendations, – said the source of Izvestia.
According to him, several years ago MTS had already pursued an extremely aggressive pricing policy, which led to the fact that of all A-brands on its shelves, only Samsung remained, which agreed with MTS’s approach and allowed the operator to dump “at its own expense.”
Such large discounts are due to not very active sales of smartphones at the beginning of the year, so retailers decided to stimulate demand. MTS has one of the strongest retailers in the Russian Federation, and the company often initiates price wars, explained Denis Kuskov, TelecomDaily CEO. Retailers always do promotions for the holidays. At the same time, the price of budget models of devices is usually discounted to gender, since Russians prefer to make the most expensive gifts for their birthday and New Year, he added.
Photo: TASS / Alexander Shcherbak
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In January 2021, 2.4 million smartphones were sold in Russia, which is 19% less than a year earlier. In the first month of the year, retailers earned 58.3 billion rubles from the sale of gadgets, which is 16% more. The average price was 23.8 thousand rubles – 42% higher than in January 2020, a source in the market told Izvestia.
Smartphone sales are low this year as household incomes have fallen due to the pandemic and the economic crisis. With the help of discounts, retailers are trying to “rock” the market, said leading analyst at Mobile Research Group Eldar Murtazin. At the same time, retailers did not have more goods. There is still a shortage of electronics, he added.
According to the analyst, retailers are now putting up smartphones for sale that companies have in stock. First of all, these are Samsung and Xiaomi. Eldar Murtazin believes that prices will return to their previous level by the end of March, and then they may even rise. You can also expect that in late spring – early summer, the range will be less, he added.
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