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2025: Prices for Cisco solutions collapsed in Russia
After leaving Cisco Russia, despite the general trend import substitution and the active development of product portfolios of domestic developers, Russian customers continue to purchase the products of the American vendor. And in the case of purchases by large parties, Cisco network solutions began to cost them significantly cheaper, a number of representatives of market players in this segment told TAdviser. They explained why the savings come out.
So, in one of the largest integrators working with large customers, they argue that Cisco network equipment now often costs Russian customers "an order of magnitude" cheaper than before. The company attributes this mainly to the fact that previously only a small number of large distributors supplied Cisco products to Russia: there was less competition, so it was possible to withstand higher prices. And now more companies, including smaller ones, are engaged in parallel imports. Accordingly, competition has become higher, prices - lower.
The economy of cheapening for TAdviser was laid out in detail by Vladimir Afanasyev an expert IIDF and tracker, MTS Startup Hub the founder of a system integrator. He ICE Partners talks about a shift in the market model of Cisco and other Western vendors in Russia. Until 2022, when the official distribution Cisco existed, the distributor's margin was about 20%, including bonuses from the vendor. Such a high figure was associated with the need to support Cisco Gold/Premier status and related investments in personnel, certification, demo equipment.
It was also necessary to maintain warehouse and warranty stocks, SmartNet services and official licenses, conduct marketing events and trainings. The latter is often at the expense of the vendor, but with partial co-financing.
 | The vendor demanded to maintain reputation and infrastructure, so distributors could not "knock down" margins - otherwise they would lose their status and exclusivity, explains to TAdviser the financial logic of Vladimir Afanasyev. |  |
And after 2022, with the development of parallel imports of Cisco, the margin of logicians began to be 3-7%, sometimes 10-12% on small parties. This is due to the fact that now there is no obligation to the vendor: the warehouse can be kept minimal, the demo is zero, the certification is optional. At the same time, competition is high.
| | Dozens of players, including small companies, are ready to work "to zero" for the sake of turnover. And an emphasis on capital turnover rather than "brand value." The financial logic is: "they started working quickly - they bought the next batch." The business has become similar to FMCG retail with low margins, the expert notes. | |
Thus, the distributors lost the exclusive and ceased to be the "only channel." Logicians supplanted the traditional model: the customer has no motive to pay 20% of the margin when you can get the same switch through a parallel channel with 3-5% to purchase. And the services of the integrator began to be separated from the hardware: integrators are increasingly purchasing equipment from logicians at a minimum price and earning on project services.
Ilya Gleikin, a leading business consultant for the development of TM Arbait, IT expert, notes that after Cisco officially left Russia, many expected shortages and price increases. And in 2022 it was: the equipment rose in price, the delivery time stretched, the exchange rate was unpredictable. However, time has passed, and today, with large purchases, Cisco network solutions cost Russian customers significantly less than before. Among the priority reasons for this, he also points to an increase in the number of players in the market.
| | Now dozens of companies work through parallel import channels, including those from the Russian division of Cisco and large distributors. The competition between them for the client is higher, so the prices sank, of course, there is literally a tenfold drop in the price in each case, but the decrease is really tangible if you approach the organization of procurement wisely, says Ilya Gleikin. | |
On large batches, savings can be tens of percent compared to pre-crisis prices, especially if the purchase is not "through a chain of purchases," but directly from the importer. But on small volumes, the savings are no longer so obvious - if you do not try, you can buy more expensive. However, even here, with competent channel selection and payment "without delay," you can go below the Global Price List (GPL). The main thing is to reduce the number of intermediaries and be proactive, and not purchase under old contracts "by inertia."
The price is also influenced by the terms of payment: the ruble has strengthened - it makes sense to buy; in the case of expectations that the course will go up, it is better not to pull. Some suppliers are ready to make an additional discount for prepayment.
| | Little advice from practice: want the best price - combine purchases. If you form a need for at least six months in advance, you can get a serious discount. Importers and integrators are more willing to move in price when the batch volume allows optimizing logistics and risks, Ilya Gleikin recommends. | |
Alexey Rubakov, the founder of a comprehensive solutions company in the field, DPC Netrack also points to a trend of lower prices for Cisco equipment, especially when purchasing in large batches. Prices for many positions fell by 2-3 times, and in some cases - by an order of magnitude compared to the times of Cisco's official presence in Russia. On small volumes - for example, when it comes to one or two switches or an access point - the price reduction does not exceed 20-40%, the expert estimates.
In addition to the contribution of the competition factor to lower prices, he leads others. So, some of the equipment comes from excess stock in other countries, where it turned out to be unclaimed after the change in Cisco global logistics. This allows you to sell equipment below the previous price, especially if we are talking about not the newest or most popular models.
| | In addition, more and more players are working with refurbished equipment (refurbed), as well as with used equipment. This is a separate market, but it greatly affects the overall price picture - especially in cases where it is not official support that is important for the customer, but the very fact of having hardware with the necessary functionality, explains Alexey Rubakov. | |
Despite the new, more attractive prices for products when purchasing large batches, there is also a spoon of tow, even a few. One of them is support, Ilya Gleikin points out. SmartNet from Cisco through parallel import is not available, and if you need an analogue, you will have to consider it a separate cost item. In fact, now the customer buys only hardware, and solves service issues with Russian partners: "Many companies are switching to a model when equipment is cheaper, but their own IT services or third-party service providers are responsible for its performance."
It must be understood that along with savings, risks have also increased: lack of an official guarantee, difficulty with licensing, possible problems when updating firmware. Therefore, you need to count not only the price "at the entrance," but also the cost of ownership, I agree with my market colleague and Alexey Rubakov.
2024: The volume of the Russian switch market for the year reached 50 billion rubles
The annual volume of the Russian switch market in 2024 reached 50 billion rubles. Against the background of the formed geopolitical situation in this area, active import substitution of foreign equipment is carried out. This was announced in mid-September 2025 by the representative of the Russian-Chinese enterprise TA-Information Technologies (engaged in the production of telecommunications and IT equipment) Alexander Permyakov.
According to him, in 2023, Russian suppliers of network devices occupied about 20% of the corresponding market in the Russian Federation. In 2025, this figure increased to 50%. In the medium term, it is expected that the share of purchased Russian-made switches will increase every year.
TA-Information Technologies notes that switches are key components of the data center infrastructure, providing data transfer between servers, storage systems and other devices. With the rapid development of artificial intelligence and cloud platforms, the need for high-performance solutions with bandwidth of 10/25/40/100 Gbps and higher is growing. At the same time, there is a transition to software-defined networks (SDN) to increase flexibility and automate control. Integrating switches with storage and compute modules enables more flexible and manageable infrastructures.
At the same time, a number of problems characteristic of the Russian market stand out. TA-Information Technologies indicates that often domestic devices, compared to foreign products, are "less convenient to use, more difficult to configure and have limited functionality." Maintenance cannot always be carried out remotely, which requires a specialist to travel directly to the facility.[1][2][3]]
2023
The production of switches and routers in Russia in 4 years has grown 3 times to 236 billion rubles
For the period from 2019 to 2023, the production of switches and routers in Russia increased in value terms by about three times - from 76 billion to 236 billion rubles. At the same time, the size of the market as a whole rose from 634 billion to 784 billion rubles (revenue of all companies engaged in the production of various types of telecom equipment). Such data are provided in a study by J'son & Partners Consulting, the results of which TAdviser got acquainted with in mid-October 2024.
According to estimates, in 2019-2023, imports of communication equipment to Russia decreased from 583 billion to 562 billion rubles. At the same time, the share of foreign equipment decreased by 38%. At the same time, the share of domestic producers in the total market volume increased from 12% to 30%.
The continuous growth of Russian production is due to the development of production competencies and deepening the localization of products, strengthening the market share of Russian players, scaling their business, favorable regulatory regime in relation to domestic suppliers, sanitary pressure and the departure of foreign companies, mastering the production of equipment of high technical complexity. In 2023, the criteria for the admission of electronics during public procurement were tightened in order to provide advantages to product manufacturers on the Russian element base. The highest priority will be given to equipment running on Russian processors: it is classified as a "first level" product and has the corresponding mark in the register of the Ministry of Industry and Trade. An important factor in demand for Russian-made telecom, computer, ICT equipment, including industrial ones, are quotas for state purchases of equipment included in the Unified Register of Electronic Products of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, obliging state customers to purchase Russian equipment in the amount expressed as a share of their annual product demand.
J'son & Partners Consulting notes that the sales structure of switches and routers in Russia as a whole repeats global trends. In particular, there is a gradual transition to higher-speed technologies: 1G - > 10G; 10/25G—>100G; 100G - > 200/400G and above. Due to "sanctions geopolitical inflation," the market in Russia is growing faster in money than in pieces. The increasing performance requirements of data centers and the need for high-load platforms are forcing equipment manufacturers and data center owners to implement new and specific technologies for network data transfer protocols. The key market drivers are:
- Technology and Industry Trends, Telecom Equipment and Services Market Growth in Line with Global Trends;
- Requirements for capacity expansion taking into account increased traffic and speeds on the part of consumers;
- Increase in the share of switches and routers with connection speeds of 25, 100 Gbps and higher in Russian data centers;
- Active creation of new data centers;
- Replacement of imported equipment with Russian equipment taking into account the technological cycle of disposal and end of service life of the equipment;
- Compliance with the requirements of the regulator for the use of mainly domestic software, software and hardware systems, electronic component base, telecommunications equipment of Russian origin in regulated markets (industries) and government bodies.
It is noted that the measures taken at the highest state level will strengthen the financial stability of the radio electronics industry and accelerate the creation of new high-tech industries in the strategically important sector of telecommunications infrastructure.[4]
Start of production of Wi-Fi 6 routers
At the end of January 2023, it became known about the upcoming launch of the production of Russian routers with support for the Wi-Fi 6 wireless communication standard. The corresponding plan is contained in the roadmap "New Industrial Software" (NIPO).
As Izvestia writes with reference to this document, the project will be supervised by the Ministry of Digital Development of the Russian Federation. It is assumed that the production of domestic routers will begin by the end of 2024, and by the beginning of 2025 at least 500 thousand Wi-Fi 6 devices should be produced in Russia. The NIPO lists the largest Internet providers like ER-Telecom Holding and Rostelecom as potential state customers of domestic equipment.
According to experts interviewed by the newspaper, by January 2023 there are enterprises in Russia producing Wi-Fi routers on an imported component base, but devices for Wi-Fi 6 are not yet available. They note that such routers are more complex equipment, the introduction of which will reduce the interference that gadgets that work in the old range create for each other and increase the access speed for users.
The Ministry of Digital Development of the Russian Federation reported that by the end of January 2023, Russian manufacturers have in their hands prototypes of Wi-Fi 6 routers, both consumer and corporate. The equipment is undergoing the final stages of testing: production is scheduled for the second quarter of 2023, the department said.
The Ministry of Digital Development added that a Wi-Fi 6 router can serve more gadgets than Wi-Fi 5 routers, which may be relevant for offices, cafes and other public places where several dozen subscribers connect to one point.
By January 2023, the production of routers for Wi-Fi 6 in the Russian Federation is largely not established due to the fact that it requires a complex component base, an Izvestia source in the communications market claims. For the manufacture of such devices of previous generations, microelectronic components are enough, which are offered by many suppliers: they are easy to find on the market even under sanctions. Wi-Fi 6 and 6E require more modern and high-tech chips, it is more difficult to find them, the source said.[5]
Network equipment (Global Market)
Main Article: Network equipment (Global Market)
Notes
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