40.5 million mobile phones sold in Russia in 2011

2012-01-31



The mobile handset market in Russia went up by 16% year on year to approximately 40.5 million units in 2011, according to MTS (a telecommunications operator and mobile equipment retailer). In terms of value, the sales of mobile handsets in the country hit RUB 174.8bn (€4.3bn), which is 12% more in comparison to the prior year.


The sales of smartphones reached 7.7 million units in 2011, accounting for 18.8% of all mobile phones sold in the country last year. Meanwhile, the sales value of smartphones in Russia went up from RUB 46.38bn (€1.06bn) in 2010 to RUB 83.34bn (€2.04bn) in 2011. The average price of a smartphone in Russia in 2011 was RUB 10,825 (€269), resulting in a 12% year-on-year decline.




In 2011, Nokia visibly shrank its share in the Russian smartphone market, which dropped in terms of value by 16 p.p. to 35.8% and by 20.4 p.p. to 43.6% in terms of volume. The biggest benefit of a downturn witnessed by Nokia, was Samsung which expanded its volume and value share in the country’s smartphone market by 18.3 p.p. and 13.5 p.p. year on year, respectively.




The mobile retail network of MTS reached 4,147 stores at the end of 2011. The company estimates its share in the retail mobile phones market to be approximately 16%, based on the amount of units sold last year.