UrBC, Moscow, September 29, 2015. The sales of smartphones dropped by 6%, down to 15m units, in Russia over the eight months of 2015, Interfax refers to Euroset as saying.

In the meantime, the price of a smartphone averaged 9,600 RUR in late August, which is 16% more than a year earlier.

‘The price factor was not the decisive one, based on customer feedback this year. Even at the time of an economic downfall, customers do not look for the cheapest deals. What they do look for are technical parameters first, price and brand loyalty second. Thus brand loyalty is not on top of the list any more. What customers want is a hi tech device that combines many essential functions,’ a Euroset representative says.

27 million smartphones were sold in Russia between January and August 2015, which was 14% less than a year earlier. Sales revenues, however, were up by 5% and came to 162bn RUR. The sales of regular mobile phones, however, dropped in both monetary and physical terms by 24% and 26%, respectively. The price of a feature phone went up by 2% in the meantime.