OREANDA-NEWS  According to the results of the first quarter, smartphone sales in Russia collapsed by about 20 percent, which was one of the strongest market declines in history. Izvestia writes about this with reference to sellers of equipment and experts.

A source close to one of the federal networks said that sales of devices fell by 26 percent in physical terms and by 25 percent in monetary terms, to 5.5 million units and 139 billion rubles. Another source cites slightly different figures — 21 percent and 19 percent, respectively (5.9 million smartphones and 150.1 billion rubles).

Experts cite high sales figures for 2024 and an increase in the Central Bank's key rate as the main factors influencing this dynamic. Due to the latter circumstance, the consumer lending market has significantly decreased, and interest rates on bank deposits have become very attractive.

Commercial Director of Refrigerator.Alexey Pogudalov noted that a comparable trend is observed in other categories of electronics, including computers and laptops.

Eldar Murtazin, a leading analyst at Mobile Research Group, claims that, apart from the landslide of 2022, when shipments of equipment to Russia stopped for a month and a half due to the fighting in Ukraine, the market has not yet experienced such a serious decline.