The Spring of Russian E-commerce - An exclusive global perspectives series

Category: Phones & gadgets

iPhone sales finally grow – operators accused of overpricing conspiracy

By East-West Digital News, Marchmont News / May 04, 2012

In 2011, the Russian mobile operator and retailer MTS – one of the two exclusive importers of iPhones to Russia – brought in as many iPhones (for $140.8 million) as it had during all the years dating back to the product’s launch in Russia in 2008.

According to the IT and telecom news portal CNews.ru, MTS’s purchases of iPhones amounted to $65.4 million in 2008 and to $79.4 million in 2010 — but to just $3.4 million in 2009, due to the initial commercial failure of the smartphone.

Contactless payments take their first steps in Russia

By Elena Mikhaylova, Adrien Henni, East-West Digital News / Mar 30, 2012

On Wednesday, Vimpelcom, a major Russian mobile operator, announced it will deploy the NFC-based contactless payment system it implemented in St. Petersburg last year within the Moscow subway. Widespread commercial launch in Moscow is scheduled for the end of the year.

While most offline and online purchases made in Russia are still paid in cash, contactless payment experiments have been flourishing in several Russian cities over the last two years. Last October, Megafon, another leading operator, also launched NFC payments in the St. Petersburg subway, in addition to using the system for loyalty programs with several local banks and retailers.

MTS partners with Samsung in mobile retail

Special to East-West Digital News by Oleg Kouzbit in partnership with Marchmont News / Mar 29, 2012

MTS, one of Russia’s largest mobile operators, and Samsung Electronics have shaken hands on a deal to develop retail sales jointly in Russia by the end of the year. The agreement – the first of its kind in Russia with a single manufacturer – calls for the opening of Samsung product stores in Russia’s ten largest cities and aggressive promotion of the Korean brand in 2,000 out of the operator’s 4,150 existing outlets across the country.

GLONASS supported smartphones fail to get traction on the Russian market

By East-West Digital News / Mar 01, 2012 / 1 Comment

Chinese smartphone manufacturer ZTE has stopped producing smartphones that support both GLONASS and GPS, said Ding Haomin, ZTE’s representative in Russia, in an exchange with CNews.ru, an online publication covering the Russian telecom and IT markets.

Haomin explained the decision was motivated by “the absence of demand” for such devices.

Domestic sales of GPS+GLONASS road navigation devices could reach $3 billion by 2015, say Russian experts

By East-West Digital News / Feb 01, 2012

As many as 270,000 GPS+GLONASS road navigation devices were sold in Russia last year, an almost three-fold increase from 2010, said Alexander Gurko, General Manager of NIS GLONASS, the Russian national provider of satellite navigation services, in an exchange with news agency RIA Novosti earlier this week.

These figures could double in 2012, representing sales of approximately 7.5 billion rubles, or $250 million. By 2015, the size of the domestic market could reach 100 billion rubles, roughly $3 billion, with one third of the units coming from Russian device makers, NIS GLONASS experts predict.

Svyaznoy launches in-house TV network

By Diana Imamgaiazova, East-West Digital News / Dec 20, 2011

Last week, major Russian mobile phone retailer Svyaznoy announced the launch of an in-house TV network. ‘Svyaznoy TV’ offers news, reports, and reviews of the retailer’s products and services as well as entertainment, corporate information, and advertising from Svyaznoy’s partners.

Svyaznoy TV is currently featured in more than 900 stores across Russia, with an expected monthly reach that exceeds 20 million people.

Nokia integrates Mail.ru services in dedicated mobile web browser

By East-West Digital News / Dec 07, 2011 / 1 Comment

Mail.ru Group and Nokia announced yesterday the launch of a special version of Nokia’s web browser for Nokia Series 40 mobile phones. These mid-tier feature phones, which inlude the Nokia 2700, X2-00, 5130, C3-00, 6700, 6303 and 21 other models, enjoy strong popularity in Russia, notes Telecom Daily, a Russian online publication covering telecom and IT issues.

The browser integrates the popular mail, social networking, and news aggregation services of Mail.ru Group. Among its strong points are a convenient interface optimized for small screens as well as a data compression technology that reduces data traffic and related expenses.

Nokia to integrate GLONASS satellite based location system

By East-West Digital News / Nov 21, 2011

NIS GLONASS, the Russian national provider of satellite navigation services, announced on Friday it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Nokia.

According to the agreement – which follows announcements made in August of this year – the Finnish company is to adapt GLONASS technology to its mobile platforms and devices. The Russian technology may also be integrated in Nokia devices for automobiles.

Samsung smartphones to feature Yandex search and preinstalled Yandex apps

By East-West Digital News / Oct 27, 2011

As early as next month, Yandex services for mobile devices will come preinstalled on all Samsung Bada-powered smartphones sold in the CIS countries, the Russian search giant announced on Tuesday.

In addition to the Yandex search engine, the agreement with Samsung will include the preinstallation of Yandex.Maps, Yandex.Mail, Yandex.Metro, Yandex.Market, and a number of other popular Yandex apps.

iPhone 4S combines GPS and GLONASS satellite location systems

By Adrien Henni, East-West Digital News / Oct 21, 2011

The iPhone 4S, Apple’s newest smartphone, supports both GPS and GLONASS satellite based location systems, according to the tech specs page devoted to the phone updated yesterday on the Apple website.

According to ifixit.com, whose authors have taken the smartphone apart, this dual capacity is provided by the Qualcomm MDM6610 baseband chip. Qualcomm has declined to comment on its relationship with Apple, news agency RIA Novosti reported.

Category: Phones & gadgets

iPhone sales finally grow – operators accused of overpricing conspiracy

Contactless payments take their first steps in Russia

MTS partners with Samsung in mobile retail

GLONASS supported smartphones fail to get traction on the Russian market

Domestic sales of GPS+GLONASS road navigation devices could reach $3 billion by 2015, say Russian experts

Svyaznoy launches in-house TV network

Nokia integrates Mail.ru services in dedicated mobile web browser

Nokia to integrate GLONASS satellite based location system

Samsung smartphones to feature Yandex search and preinstalled Yandex apps

iPhone 4S combines GPS and GLONASS satellite location systems

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