The gray market of smartphones is growing in Russia
illegal imports of electronics, including smartphones, into the territory of the Russian Federation is growing, the Federal Customs Service told Izvestia. The number of administrative cases on such shipments has grown by 70% over the year, and more than six times as compared to 2022. Retailers say that the market of gadgets that are imported through gray schemes has reached 30% of total sales. Buying such equipment is risky - you can run into fakes, non-functioning phones without warranty or blocked for Russia, experts warn.
The volume of the gray market of gadgets in Russia
The number of cases on administrative offenses initiated by customs authorities on the facts of illegal supplies of smartphones in theRussian Federation, tends to increase, told "Izvestia" in the Federal Customs Service (FCS).
- For 10 months of 2024, the number of cases, the subject of offense in which were smartphones, increased in comparison with the same period last year by 70%, and with the same period of 2022 - more than six times, - said the FCS.
There are examples of suppression of illegal importation of batches of expensive smartphones with evasion of customs payments on a large scale, which entails criminal liability, the customs service added. For example, in November of this year a criminal case was initiated on the fact of evasion of customs payments when importing from China a batch of Apple smartphones worth more than 20 million rubles, the FCS said.
- It is not uncommon at air checkpoints to identify citizens who transport smartphones that do not belong to them under the guise of goods for personal use. With regard to such devices, expert examinations are organized, the results of which determine whether the goods are original or have signs of counterfeiting. After that, a decision is made to bring citizens to the responsibility established by law, - said in the department.
Customs officers also track international mail, as a separate channel of illegal importation of electronics, added the FCS.
As one of the major participants of the Russian electronics market told Izvestia, from the beginning of 2022 to the end of 2024, the share of smartphones that are imported into Russia with violations of tax and customs laws increased from 10% to 30%.
- Since 2022, large batches of equipment and electronics are still imported officially by distributors with full registration and payment of VAT. And the share of private imports without paying VAT has grown to 30% of the market volume," said the Izvestia interlocutor.
According to him, the assessment is based on the analysis of online sales of smartphones, at prices that are below market prices by at least the amount of VAT. Since the cost of importation into the country by official distributors includes VAT and is practically comparable among themselves, all price differences are easily noticeable, he noted. Another methodology is based on comparing data from analytical companies on sales with data from cellular operators on smartphone activations, added a source in the mobile gadget market. If sales are much lower than the number of activations, it means that someone imports devices without any proper registration, he explained.
- If we talk about phones that have not been cleared through customs, the top models of iPhone and Samsung are the leaders in this category, as the logistics costs of both expensive and cheap phones are the same. Only the import of expensive goods from $1,000, where the margin is high, is profitable," a source in the gadget market told Izvestia.
According to MTS estimates, the share of gray and counterfeit smartphones in a number of positions reaches 30% of the total volume. The biggest concern is the growth of counterfeit on marketplaces, while the system of control and responsibility of sellers on these sites is often nominal, said Andrei Gubanov, General Director of the MTS retail network.
In addition to consignments entering our market without or with partial payment of taxes and duties, smartphones are imported by private individuals for subsequent resale via the Internet, states the press service of Megafon.
- Both sellers on online marketplaces, regardless of their size, and large electronics retailers since May 2022 are actively bringing in equipment through parallel imports. At the same time, it is quite strictly regulated - at customs you need to prove that the goods are original and purchased legally- commented on the situation in "Avito".
Among other things, sales contracts and supply contracts are checked, confirming the legality of the supply chain - where the goods came from the supplier and how they ended up at the final importer, added in the press service of the trading platform. Offline retailers can physically verify products, while, for example, aggregators of information about goods and ad platforms go the other way, relying on sales histories, ratings, reviews of other real buyers, as well as verification of profiles, Avito pointed out.
What is the danger of buying counterfeit smartphones
Buying goods from gray sellers is fraught with lack of quality guarantee, lack of instructions in Russian, the risk of acquiring faulty or broken equipment, according to "M.Video-Eldorado". In the best case , buyers have to rely on the honesty of such outlets, in the worst case - to solve problems with the equipment themselves, noted in the press service of the united retailer.
Customers often buy a "cat in a bag", added a representative of one of the retailers. Such goods may not only be defective or out of order, but may even be dangerous for the consumer - explode, catch fire, short-circuit, he warned.
Such supplies affect not only the state and large retailers that comply with all legal requirements, but also the end consumer, who may receive a smartphone with a blocked or missing part of the declared functions, Megafon said.
- The idea of controlling smartphone imports by IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity - a unique number assigned to each mobile device that supports cellular communication) has long been discussed. This is the only systematic tool for controlling gadgets imported into Russia," says an employee of a retail company.
The same system makes it possible to correctly determine the customs value of goods.
If the government implements such a mechanism, it will make it possible to control the movement of goods from import to final sale, increase tax and customs revenues to the country's budget, and make trade transparent and reliable for the buyer, he believes.
- It is important for us that users can buy quality and safe goods on Wildberries and be satisfied with the purchase. The marketplace is already responsible as an information intermediary for the realization of counterfeit goods. We use additional tools to control the quality and safety of products," the company's press service said. - Speaking about the protection of rights holders, the platform has a service called "Digital Arbitration", which allows brand owners to contact sellers directly and check the documents for the goods.
If the seller cannot provide them, the marketplace hides such goods from the online storefront, the organization's press service claims.
When buying a gray smartphone, the user will not face liability for violation of customs and tax laws, as he is a bona fide purchaser, said Eldar Murtazin, a leading analyst at Mobile Research Group. According to him, criminal or administrative liability in case of detection of violations threatens the seller, he explains.
The gray market of smartphones has really grown many times over due to the fact that not all smartphone models are officially imported into Russia, and there is no coordination of their supply, promotion and sales on the part of vendors, says Denis Kuskov, CEO of TelecomDaily. Buying smartphones of unknown origin from small sellers, the user risks getting a broken device without warranty or a device that does not work with Russian operators due to technical specifications, he added.
