Force

Sila is a manufacturer of domestic equipment and software. The company's mission is to develop an ecosystem of local IT solutions based on technologies to provide Russian companies with the opportunity to create modern IT infrastructures based on Russian components. The company's product portfolio includes laptops, all-in-ones, desktops, servers, storage, and network equipment.

Performance indicators

2023: Revenue growth by 102%, to 1.3 billion rubles

As TAdviser found out, at the end of 2023, the revenue of the Russian equipment manufacturer Sila reached almost 1.3 billion rubles, an increase of 102% compared to 2022. According to the database of legal entities Kontur.Focus, "the company's net profit amounted to 34.1 million rubles, down 22.5%.

In the explanations to the financial statements published in the database of the Federal Tax Service, it is indicated that the company received revenue of over 880 million rubles from the sale of finished products and more than 413 million rubles from the sale of purchased goods.

The company's cost of sales in 2023 increased by 136.8%, to 1.14 billion rubles.

The average number of employees of the "Force" for the year has not changed and at the end of 2023 amounted to 25 people.

"Power" supplies laptops, servers, storage systems, network equipment, MCDS. In 2023, the company continued to develop the ecosystem of local products and presented a number of updates in its product line.

History

2023: Withdrawal from IBS

As TAdviser found out, at the end of March, IBS sold IBS Platformix and IT equipment manufacturer Sila, which were part of the group. The new owners of these assets were the general director of Platformix Georgy Polikhronidi and the executive director Andrei Sergeyev. Read more here.

2022

IBS subsidiary invests hundreds of millions of rubles in creating its own IT equipment

Computer manufacturer Sila (a subsidiary of IBS) is expanding its R&D department and is actively investing - "we can say, already hundreds of millions of rubles" - in order to start offering alternatives to solutions to foreign vendors who have left the market in 2023. Shamil Aminev, general director of Sila, spoke about this at a meeting with the press on November 23 .

Aminev chose not to talk about which products are already in development, and exactly how many funds the company invests. The company plans to report on specific results later, he said, answering questions from TAdviser. The general director of Sila, however, clarified that we are not talking about the development of our own laptops. In other classes of products that the company deals with - servers, DSS, network equipment - there are projects.

At the moment, the company offers customers its own universal server, which is included in the register of the Ministry of Industry and Trade. It was developed back in 2021, runs on processors with x86 architecture. Previously, the company had plans to release servers on Russian processors, but after February 2022, the latter had problems due to sanctions.

Server "Power SR2-5422," included in the register of Russian radio electronic equipment of the Ministry of Industry and Trade

Along the way, with the development of its own products, Sila also expects to follow the path of sale under its brand of equipment produced in Asia and parallel imports. With the departure of Western vendors from Russia, a shortage has formed, and in many categories of goods it is still observed. In "Power" they see their task to completely solve the problem of the customer's shortage.

The most important thing for us in the long term is the formation of a full-fledged commodity portfolio, which will meet the criteria of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, says Shamil Aminev. - As soon as the task for the market to stop feeling a shortage is solved, the presence of products in the register of the Ministry of Industry and Trade will become one of the key advantages for a very wide range of customers.

Russian customers now have three main ways to get the IT equipment they need, noted in the "force." You can purchase the usual products of foreign vendors due to the fact that parallel import channels have started working. But this option promises problems with obtaining the service, because the manufacturers of these products left Russia and do not bear obligations for what is supplied by parallel import.

This option is most suitable for obtaining products that neither Russia nor Asian manufacturers have alternatives to, says Shamil Aminev. In December 2022, Sila expects to provide customers with DSS imported by parallel imports.

You can also buy domestic products from the register of the Ministry of Industry and Trade. This is equipment manufactured inside Russia and meets the criteria set by the Ministry of Industry and Trade. This option currently corresponds to the import substitution policy as much as possible.

There is also a third category of products that does not meet the criteria of "fatherland" of the Ministry of Industry and Trade. This is equipment manufactured abroad, as a rule, in Asia, by order, under supervision and under the brand of domestic manufacturers. "Power" offers customers, such as servers and DSS, manufactured using OEM/ODM models, and recently began to offer laptops. For the production of equipment, the company cooperates with a Chinese plant, Foxconn said Shamil Aminev.

In Russia, Sila also uses local contract production, but also has its own assembly production - for assembling equipment under the tasks of the customer and testing/quality control. The company is considering the task of deepening its technological process in the country.

In the future of five years, Russian products, with the proper support of the state, will probably occupy the largest share in the market, suggests Shamil Aminev. But at the moment, Russian manufacturers have problems in order to scale production at a sufficient level. So far, they are not able to produce equipment in sufficient volumes.

Foreign companies that have invested much longer in production have advantages over Russian manufacturers. Chinese companies with their capacities can completely close the needs of the Russian market, for them this level of scaling will not even be too noticeable, says the general director of Sila.

The Force points to another notable point related to the departure of foreign vendors. Customers in the mature market were previously accustomed to receiving equipment with a significant deferral of payments - from 30 to 180 days: "first chairs, then money." The constant amount of money on the market required for the channel to operate in this way was about $1.5-2 billion, according to Sila. This money was provided mainly by vendors who left the Russian market, and now these funds have disappeared, because Russian suppliers do not have enough money to finance this kind of supply.

TAdviser interview with CEO Shamil Aminev

Shamil Aminev, General Director of SILA LLC, answered TAdviser's questions on the situation on the Russian IT equipment market, possible ways to reach stable development in the new conditions, on the company's products - laptops, servers, DSS, routers. Read more here.