The time span of the Russia-Ukraine conflict is longer than we thought, and the scope and extent of its impact are far beyond the initial estimates. However, amid a series of negative voices surrounding the escalation of conflicts between the two sides, mutual sanctions between Europe and Russia, and global economic turmoil, there is also some good news.
M.video-Eldorado, Russia's largest electronics retailer, said on Wednesday that Chinese smartphones accounted for two-thirds of all new sales in Russia from April to June, the latest sign of the Russian-Ukrainian war affecting Russian consumption. It is reported that Chinese smartphone brands Xiaomi, Realme, and Honor accounted for 42% of Russian smartphone sales in May 2022, up from 28% in the same period last year.
The market gap is caused by the supply failure of large factories
In 2022, the “hardships” of the entire smartphone industry need not be overstated. After multiple rounds of order cutting caused by the sharp reduction in market demand, the terminal to the supply chain is facing great pressure on shipments. Even in the traditional peak consumption season, the overall performance of mobile phone brands is not as good as before. On June 30, the latest research from Strategy Analytics pointed out that during this year's 6.18 online shopping festival in China, smartphone sales were 14 million units, down 25% year-on-year.
Under the difficult situation, how to find new market growth space is the problem faced by the industry chain.
The two giants Apple and Samsung announced their withdrawal from the Russian market after the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, which is a first-line turning point for industry chain manufacturers. An industry insider said: "If it were just Apple, the scope of influence would be relatively small, because Apple's sales in the Russian market are not that many, but the addition of Samsung's volume is considerable, Samsung is the mobile phone brand with the highest market share in Russia. "
Sui Qian, senior director of Strategy Analytics, said in an interview with China Business News that Apple sells an average of 4 million iPhones in Russia every year. The market share of this brand of mobile phone in Russia is about 10%, so it can be estimated that the average annual shipment of the local mobile phone market is about 40 million units.
In addition, according to data released by Counterpoint Research, Samsung's mobile phone market share in Russia will reach 30% in 2021, which means that the withdrawal of Apple and Samsung can bring 40% market share to other mobile phone brands to the greatest extent, and the shipment gap is close to 16 million. tower.
Industry insiders continued: "Although there is no way to compare the volume in the domestic market, it is also very important for mobile phone brands at this stage. Several domestic manufacturers are under great pressure this year, so everyone will try their best to grab the market. What's more, there are still two less favorable competitors. If the brand's performance in the market is better, the supply chain must be relatively easier. For example, Xiaomi, Honor, and Realme mentioned by M.video-Eldorado, supply chain The chain must also benefit from the substantial increase in the market share of the three brands in Russia.”
"Actually, there are opportunities not only in mobile phones but also in electronic product-related markets. Since the conflict between the two countries, there have been many brands in the Russian market that have been announced one after another, covering many product fields such as home appliances and computers. The domestic industrial chain is in these fields. All have obvious advantages. If the demand in the mobile phone market is not large enough, then the total market demand in these areas will definitely bring a more obvious contribution to the company's income."
M.video-Eldorado clearly stated in the financial report for the first quarter of 2022 that the main reason for the group’s current GMV (that is, gross merchandise volume) growth rate of 28.1% month-on-month and year-on-year is that many manufacturers have withdrawn from the Russian market and the ruble price has fluctuated. , unstable supply and other factors stimulated user demand, and the best-selling products in the quarter included refrigerators, computers, and TVs.
It should be pointed out that the business opportunities brought by the withdrawal of major manufacturers from Russia are not limited to brands.
The beneficiaries of legally imported "parallel imports"
On June 22, local time, Russia passed the Parallel Import Law and announced a list of commodities that allow parallel imports (commonly known as parallel imports). According to this law, Russia can legally import some foreign commodities in parallel according to the list and does not need to obtain commodity copyrights in advance. Owner's consent.
This means that it is not only brand manufacturers and their suppliers that are seeing a turnaround in the Russian market, but some white- and gray-label industrial chains also have the opportunity to profit from it.
It is understood that the list of goods allowed for parallel import released by Russia covers a wide range of categories.
In terms of technology and electronics, the list includes products from Siemens, Panasonic, Apple, Intel, Samsung, Dyson, Logitech, and many others. In addition, in the car category, Land Rover, Jeep, Jaguar, Chrysler, Bentley, Cadillac, Tesla, Volvo, Skoda, Toyota, Nissan, etc. can be imported into Russia in parallel.
Some industry chain manufacturers pointed out: "In fact, the sales of 'parallel imports' are explicitly prohibited in many countries, because the price is cheaper than that of products imported through formal channels, so once the flooding, it is easy to cause a bad market competition environment. Especially European and American brands have a very strong pressure on these industries, and Apple is a representative example, so in recent years, the living space of these white- and gray-brand suppliers has also been greatly reduced.”
"This move is obviously not conducive to those brands that have announced temporary supply cuts, but it is not entirely positive for the Russian market itself. In fact, Russia also banned the sale of 'parallel imports' after joining the WTO, but after being sanctioned by many countries, The prices of many imported products in Russia have risen rapidly. It is obviously helpless to reopen now." The other party said.
The only certainty about the above decision is that a large number of "parallel importers" and their supply chains will have the opportunity to enjoy this wave of dividends. In China, there is a very mature, complete, and huge industrial chain. Needless to say, the world-famous Shenzhen Huaqiangbei, Guangzhou, Dongguan, and other places in the Pearl River Delta region also have well-developed parallel markets.
To protect the interests of consumers in Russia. Several of Russia's biggest sellers of goods have now announced their readiness to cooperate with "parallel importers".
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