Kommersant writes about this, citing sources

[tanjimajuha20]

In Russia, due to parallel imports, smartphones with unusual functionality intended for markets in other countries have increasingly begun to appear, including the iPhone 14 with two SIM cards (for the Chinese market) or without a slot for a physical SIM card (the eSIM option for the US).



Korean and Japanese jamaica cell phone number list versions of phones are also arriving in stores, in which it is impossible to turn off the camera sound; this restriction was introduced at the request of local authorities to combat the hidden photography of women. There are now more Samsung smartphones on the shelves with a charger that fits into sockets in other countries. Phones for Arab countries have appeared in Russia, another source of the publication added, the FaceTime video calling app does not work on them.

At first, retailers were forced to sell such smartphones at a discount, but now the differences have become less of a concern for buyers, and the cost of the phones is practically no different from devices without restrictions, one of the publication's sources said.

Models with eSIM are slightly cheaper, but, as a rule, the cost of the device is determined by the amount of memory and the model of the device, M.Video-Eldorado told the newspaper.

"Currently, all devices imported to Russia are iPhones released for markets in other countries, in what percentage they are distributed, it is difficult to say, only customs can assess this, and only if the supplier has conscientiously completed all the documents," explained Apple's leading product manager at diHouse Lyubov Morozova. She warned about the increased risk of finding a defective phone due to the growing number of semi-official suppliers.

On Russian territory, it is possible to bypass "localized features," assured PR director of Inventive Retail Group (re: Store, Samsung, Street Beat, etc.) Lyudmila Semushina. She pointed out that, for example, the sound on the camera cannot be turned off unless the smartphone was turned on for the first time in Japan. If you start using it in Russia, this restriction can be removed, Semushina said.

Apple announced the suspension of product deliveries in early March (Samsung and a number of other companies did the same). Retailers estimated at the time that Apple's product stocks would last for two to three months. Their products were allowed to be imported under the parallel import scheme without the copyright holder's permission in May, and it began operating in early summer.

Parallel imports did not immediately start working at full capacity, which led to the disappearance of some Samsung smartphone models from sales. Problems also arose with the launch of sales of the new iPhone 14 model, which is supplied to Russia only through parallel imports.