Russia-Ukraine conflict, the sales of Chinese mobile phones in Russia soared, and the demand exceeded the supply

According to the Russian newspaper Businessman, Russian mobile operator MTS reported that in early March, sales of Chinese smartphones in Russia doubled. The main brands experiencing sales growth are Huawei, Honor, OPPO, vivo, and realme. Since the end of 2021, Xiaomi's mobile devices have been in short supply.

Experts say that since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine, Russians have been actively purchasing the most popular Apple, Samsung, and Xiaomi smartphone models. However, after the prices of these brands have risen significantly, Russian consumers have turned to buying more cheap inventory models from other brands.

Analysts predict that although the market is still in a state of shortage, more deliveries may begin in April.

MTS stated that from February 28th to March 13th this year, sales of Chinese brand smartphones in Russia doubled compared to the previous two weeks.

According to the company, sales of Huawei devices increased by 300% in the first two weeks of March, OPPO and Vivo increased by 200%, ZTE increased by 100%, and realme increased by 80%. In addition, sales of older non smartphones have also increased, but the year-on-year growth rate is only 12%.

In the MTS retail network, realme's share of all smartphone sales has increased from 5.7% to 12%, Honor from 2.5% to 5%, ZTE from 1.2% to 3%, OPPO from 0.4% to 1.5%, and vivo from 0.3% to 1%. The share of Huawei smartphones in network sales has increased from 0.1% to 0.5%.

MTS pointed out that due to a certain shortage of some models of Xiaomi phones since the end of 2021, Xiaomi's sales revenue was not considered.

Vivo confirms that its sales in the Russian Federation have doubled in the past two weeks.

Realme agrees with MTS' estimate and expects its market share in the Russian market to further increase.

OPPO and ZTE declined to comment. Xiaomi and Honor did not respond.

Arkady Markaryan, the head of smartphones at AliExpress in Russia, stated that brands with ample inventory have seen significant growth in sales.

At the same time, according to him, users' interest is shifting towards cheap and mid-range smartphones, with various Chinese manufacturers selling well.

He added that in an environment of increasing demand, users who only require voice communication are more willing to purchase feature phones rather than smartphones.