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2021: Xiaomi began to import smartphones into Russia on its own to combat gray imports and lower prices

On August 11, 2021, it became known that Xiaomi began to independently import smartphones into Russia to combat gray imports and lower prices.

The fact that Xiaomi imports products through the Russian subsidiary of Xiaomi LLC, Kommersant was told in several distribution companies. Xiaomi itself confirmed this information to the publication and stated the following:

We will make every effort to deliver even more devices to Russia during the year.

Xiaomi began to independently import smartphones into the Russian Federation to combat gray imports and reduce the cost of devices

According to the GS Group analytical center, in the first half of 2021, 2.4 thousand Xiaomi devices were imported directly into Russia, and in just a year - 5.3 million gadgets, which is 133% more than in 2020. At the same time, 90% of the supplies of the Chinese manufacturer to Russia come from three distributors: diHouse (included in Lanit), Marvel-Distribution and DNS.

Xiaomi has decided to more strictly control sales in Russia. Already in the second quarter of 2021, Russia's share in Xiaomi's global supplies exceeded 6%, which is more than that of other major vendors. According to the results of 2021, deliveries of a Chinese company to Russia may exceed 11.5 million devices, becoming a new record for the local market.

Direct deliveries will allow Xiaomi to more effectively combat gray imports, said Eldar Murtazin, an analyst at Mobile Research Group. By August 2021, according to him, about 20% of Xiaomi smartphones were imported unofficially to Russia.

In addition, the price of officially imported gadgets may decrease by 10-15%, said independent expert in the field of electronics Arkady Markaryan. Thus, Xiaomi will be able to potentially increase the share of sales at the expense of users who refuse to buy gray devices, he said.

According to a Kommersant source in one of the companies collaborating with Xiaomi, the Chinese manufacturer will have to "look from scratch for an approach" to large retailers.^[1]

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