Russian resellers unveiled Apple’s new iPhone 17 in stores on Saturday, with major retailer Restore: reporting a sharp rise in pre-orders this year. The strong demand for Apple smartphones suggests that consumer interest in popular products has yet to falter, even with a wider economic slowdown in Russia, which has seen a 20-year high in interest rates and a budget deficit of over four trillion roubles this year.
The iPhones’ popularity in Russia has endured despite Apple halting sales in 2022 and suspending services like Apple Pay following Western sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine. In Russia, the phones also command higher prices than in Western markets.
Lyudmila Semushina, PR director for Inventive Retail Group, which owns tech retailer Restore:, said, “This year we have 66% more pre-orders than last year.” Speaking from the Restore: branch at Afimall City in the futuristic Moscow International Business Centre, she added, “There is a huge fan base that will never exchange iPhone for anything else.”
The U.S. tech giant rolled out the iPhone 17 range globally this week, introducing a new design, updated cameras, and the new Air model.
Customer Oleg Kochetkov said, “It is worth thinking about switching from my current phone to the iPhone Air. This is a major update.” He also noted that Russians are increasingly using iPhones for FaceTime after the government restricted WhatsApp and Telegram call services.
Tech blogger Sergei Yepikhin told Reuters, “There are a lot of new features that attract me. First of all, the cameras.” Yepikhin said he was considering switching to an iPhone Pro from an Android device, which he noted are easier to use in Russia, but he hopes local firms will develop solutions for smoother iPhone usage.
Russia’s Sber and T-Bank recently launched contactless payment services to bypass the Apple Pay ban. The new Apple products displayed in Restore: on Saturday were for browsing only, with customers able to place pre-orders for delivery in the coming days.
Restore:‘s Semushina said, “There is always a small shortage of new iPhones [in the beginning].” She added that the retailer’s supply chain is “quite stable,” but that the additional logistics costs of so-called ‘parallel imports’ have impacted shelf prices. The basic 256 GB iPhone 17 is listed at 119,990 roubles ($1,437.08) on Restore:‘s online store, about 57% more than the U.S. retail price and 29% more than Great Britain’s.
According to retailer M.Video Eldorado, Apple was the top smartphone brand by sales revenue in Russia in 2024, although China’s Xiaomi led unit sales. Apple did not respond to a request for comment.
