MeganFox
That's what I read MegaFon as. If only the hugely talented Hollywood actor had such a say over Russia cellular policy...
VimpelCom, the last of the "Big Three" Russian mobile carriers to stock the iPhone in its stores, has reportedly discontinued the device, leaving all of Russia with just one retail supplier for Cupertinian kit. Russia is one of the world's largest mobile markets, with over 230 million mobile subscribers, according to research …
Makes sense to me. Despite the astronomical wealth of a few, Russia is overall very much a developing country. The ultra high end market Apple wants to live in is pretty tiny in the developing world. Not really news there.
That and fashion/fads tend not to cross language barriers as efficiently, natch.
Well, given that the Iphone is selling for almost a thousand bucks on the retail market (and more on the black market, apparently), I'd say that's one fad that has had no problem with either the language barrier or the country's borders.
"That and fashion/fads tend not to cross language barriers as efficiently, natch."
Sure they do. Apple is still a high-end brand regardless of personal feelings, no matter where you are.
It's just that in Russia the grey/black market is much cheaper and more efficient than buying from a legitimate importer that is being reamed by Apple. So that's where people will buy, and the major resellers are right not to try to compete in a losing battle.
Sound business sense.
Hell, it's barely worth being an Apple reseller in THIS country when Apple are the competition.
Indeed. That's why I was surprised that the iPhone wasn't a flop, given that during the first 4 years I had seen only three iPhones on the wild, vs. everyone carrying Blackberries, then switching to Android handsets. Even now, Blackberry still has a decent standing; last year it was somewhere around 30%. Nokia smartphones used to be the most used, but thanks to the Elopocalypse that is no longer the case.
Not many pony-tailed drama queens poncing about over the prettiest toys there.
They just want the best performance for the lowest price, such as Android, whereas all Apple has ever offered is the exact opposite. They only get away with that in Western countries rich with those types of customers, hence the bootski when trying that shitski over thereski.
Actually the pony-tailed drama queens and hipsters I see on Melbourne public transport are also going Android, going by the S3s and S4s. You know, because they all used Android before it was famous. ;)
Admittedly, I just switched to an S4 myself, although sans pony-tail. It's only been a few months and there's some adjustment. Do have to say I'm not quite convinced - Android feels rougher around the edges, not as well integrated. Very hard to put my finger on it - again, may just be de-programming my brain.
I don't do the zealotry thing - who knows in a couple of years I'll be back on Apple. Or brain implants (iBrain).
Some issues I have actually seem to stem from the S4 itself and not Android: I have hands with long fingers and I'm constantly hitting the wrong buttons, and the unit just feels somewhat awkward to me. Something I never encountered with ye old iPhone. YMMV.
Gone from iPhone to WP to Android and I'm hearing ya. I think the user interfaces are dire on Android.
WP and iOS are both tailored to the hardware they are on in terms of buttons and display. With Android the button count varies from 0 to 3 on the front of the phone.
That said, it may be a bit of a mess but there are some useful apps and it's nice to escape the walled garden.
You still feel like second best after iOS in terms of app support though.
Well Doh!
All the Russians I know (and am related to) have 2 or even 3 phones.
One for Personal use (eg Family & Friends)
One for Business
One for their Mistress/Dodgy deals/outright criminality operations
My take on the Apple vs Samsung thing in Russia is that Samsung were more willing to get into bed with the FSB than Apple were. All it takes is a few phone calls from Mr Putins cronies to the telco's hinting that their license may be revoked (or worse, be investigated for corruption) for them to change their mind at the literal drop of a Russian Fur hat.
Yes, outside places like Moscova and St Pete thr average wage might be pretty low but certainly Moscow is a very expensive place to live even for a Russian. Salaries are a lot closer to western ones these days. Back in the early 1990's we have to make sure that all the deals we did had at least 20% padding for bribes/pension contributions. This is still the case when dealing with many gov depts but can go as high as 50%. They have to find money for all those private jets you know.
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Apple's surge of innovation in phone tech is gone and it no longer justifies the strict rules for sellers and developers. While others are trying to make phones with the smarts of both an iPhone and a desktop computer, Apple is working on making desktop computers dumber like iPhones. Apple is still celebrating the glory of an event long gone while forgetting to tend to the present.
"Other than Apple's online store, the rest of Russia's trade in Apple kit is through the black market,"
Black market is not the right phrase for the huge number of independent mobile phone shops and online retailers in Russia. Just because they're not official Apple distributors or whatever it doesn't mean they're engaged in any illegal or immoral activity. Grey importing is not a crime.
thechanklybore: "Raymond Luxury-Yacht, you get extra points for the name."
No, you're getting Throatwobbler Mangrove confused with someone else. Although Raymond Luxury Yacht's name is *pronounced* "Throatwobbler Mangrove", Throatwobbler Mangrove's name is correctly pronounced "My Hovercraft Is Full Of Gumbys", in a squeal so high-pitched that it can only be heard by dogs.
CEO Tim Cook reportedly expressed dismay that 80 per cent of all iPhones are sold through carrier stores, rather than Apple Retail Stores, and suggested that he'd like to see that figure drop to 50 per cent.
Straw poll: Hands up who didn't get their phone from their carrier?
The idea of buying the phone direct is an alien concept to most people in Europe, and I don't think the US is much different. Most places where you buy phone and service separately are poor, and can't afford iPhones.
Fool. He's chasing a higher per-unit margin by throwing away the market.
- I only know two people who bought their phones from a store of any kind rather than from the carrier.
One of them only did so because the phone they'd originally got via the carrier got nicked!
I agree with Richard 12. Although I have personally bought one or two handsets outside of carrier shops, I can vouch for my friends and most people I know in France who typically go to their carrier shop when they want to change phones.
And if they want to change carrier, they go to the new carrier shop and make the deal, getting a new phone out of it as well.
Buying a phone without a carrier contract is not all that common in my relations, although it is not unheard of, given the number of prepaid phone refills on sale next to cashiers desks in every supermarket/gas station.
So I'm guessing that, in France at least, there is a substantial share of people who go to their carrier for their handset model replacement, and a non-negligeable share of people who buy outside of carrier shops (maybe secondhand as well) and use prepaid SIMMs or something like that.
Another point that is gaining in importance is the online secondhand market (Ebay, I guess, but Leboncoin is seriously gaining in activity as well). That has to have an impact on carrier sales.
"The idea of buying the phone direct is an alien concept to most people in Europe, and I don't think the US is much different."
Are you serious?
I have never, ever purchased a phone from the phone company. Never! And that's for about a dozen phones already. It is always cheaper to buy your phone not from the carrier and not pay their outrageous "subsidy".
Tim Cook is absolutely correct. Might be, they are already preparing to open few Apple Stores in Russia. When that happens, Samsung & Friends will find it very hard to compete by bribing.
"It is always cheaper to buy your phone not from the carrier and not pay their outrageous "subsidy"."
Really? I don't think so, at least for the UK. The difference in contract price even over 2 years is less than the price of a high-end phone in my experience, as the carriers appear to take full advantage by not reducing the tariff as much as one might expect. I've worked both ways, and IMHO it's cheaper to get the phone from the carrier, unless you're buying second hand. For me, the only reason to buy separately is to get a phone not available from the carrier.
you miss the point, simply being readers of El Reg shows we are not representative for the vast masses of existing and potential customers, so our buying habits are pretty much irrelevant. The fact that Apple even introduces new phones by their with-contract price and not their full price shows that purchasing a handset outright is pretty much limited to the budget PAYG segment and quite a rare occurrence. In my entire circle of friends and family I can't think of a single person who would be willing to stump up £500 for a new handset when they have the option of getting it for free with a contract.
My previous phone I bought off ebay since I was stuck with an HTC Hero on a ridiculously long contract and just couldn't deal with it any more.
However when I went to renew my contract (a little while ago now) it was £25 for sim only with unlimited data or £26 for the same deal with an Xperia S. Who wouldn't pay £24 more for a £300 phone? This is why people still buy phones on contract.
Well, the problem there isn't the £1 a month difference your provider offered between its SIM only and Phone Included deals, it's that you didn't look at other options. You can get a SIM only unlimited data / text deal with 500 minutes of calls for £12 now, with no contract at all.
So that would be a difference of £14 a month, which is of course £336 over the two years of your contract. More than pays for the phone, plus you have the option of selling the phone on ebay in a few months or after a year or so and recouping a lot of the cost and buying a new one rather than being tied to the whims of your provider, who may decide to yank your unlimited data deal or reduce your minutes etc etc whenever they like.
A major player here is how Apple treat small to medium resellers.
Want to sell a punter a macbook pro? You get to buy it from apple at RRP to resell to the customer at RRP.
Can't see it being that different for iPhones. Regardless of them selling 1 or 1000 they wouldn't make enough money for the exercise to be worth it.
At Mobile World Congress it was clear that the carriers were rounding on Apple, they liked Apple when the phones meant they could get customers to churn like crazy from their rivals but as John Strand has said (in an annoyingly loud way), there has never been any money in it for the carriers. They ran Club Nokia out of town and then welcomed iTunes.
The operators created the monster that is Apple and are looking to redress the balance. We are now seeing the carriers break the idea that you are locked to your device for two years, and I hazard that it's to churn customers off iPhones. Android, Samsung and Google Play might be far from ideal but if the consumer sentiment (not just those with pony tails) is to move from iPhone 5 to Galaxy S4 the operators will roll with it.
The Russians won't be the last, particularly if whatever comes next is as meh as the iPhone 5.
I wouldn't say "people anywhere" - that's clearly a justification biased assumption from a guilty person! : )
I jest.
It's just that some countries habits stand out in with their sales figures as an indicative tell.
Money priorities play a massive factor of course, but there are plenty of people and companies that buy software, and appreciate the ongoing efforts of developers to improve it.
It may hasten the switch over from carrier supplied phones with subsidy to people buying their phones outright and not paying for it through the nose forever more in the form of a hiked up monthly charge.
That has always been the case in my country (Mexico), but mostly because most people here are on PAYG schemes. Probably the same reason why the iPhone isn't as hot as well; it's competing on full price, which it seems is the same as in Russia ($800+).
Few of us are on contracts, I am mostly because I actually use my phone to make calls and it is cheaper that way.
How about this.....all the mobile carriers get together and tell Apple they need to promote them as a carrier before the carrier will activate a SIM in an iPhone. TV adds, poster ads, percentage of total sale value (including the mobile contract).
In Russia they might get away with it depending the political elite.
Now that would turn the tables.
"No that banging you hear is not the sound of your engineers building the next, new, world-dominating shiny shiny Mr Cook, it's the sound of an ever increasing number of nails being banged into a coffin marked "Apple"...."
Forget iWatches and the iPhone 94, they should be pouring every last dollar they have into re-animating Steve Jobs.