Russian Minister of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media, Maksut Shadayev said on the Russian Internet Forum that due to difficulties in paying and downloading applications, the number of Russian users using the iPhone will decline significantly. According to the minister, its market share willĀ be cut in half by the end of 2024.Ā Previously, MTS analysts said that in April this year, Samsung mobile phones (26% market share) ranks in Russia. Chinese manufacturer, Xiaomi (20%) ranks second while Realme is third with 11.2% market share. Apple is fourth with 10.3% share while Honor is fifth with 5.7% share.Ā Due to the outbreak of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, in early March this year, Apple announced that it would ban the sale of iPhone and other products in the Russian market.
The U.S. government is strongly on Ukraine’s side in the conflict. Thus, American companies have no choice but to be on the side on their government. Many American companies have already pulled out of the Russian market. In fact, Google recently declared itself bankrupt in Russia. Of course, we all know that Google is not bankrupt globally.
Gizchina News of the week
Russian court rejects Apple appeal – to fine the company
Appleās appeal hit a brick wall, and the Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service now has permission to start an antitrust investigation into the App Store. The antitrust case will move forward as Apple’s appeal to re-examine the Russian agency’s grounds for the investigation was rejected.Ā If found guilty of monopolistic conduct, Apple couldĀ face fines based on its revenue in Russia.Ā Apple is blocking developers from connecting users to external payment options, Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service said.
The agency gave Apple until September 2021 to rectify it and filed an antitrust lawsuit in October.Ā However, the lawsuit comes just days after Apple removed antitrust provisions from its App Store rules. The company then appealed to the court for judicial review of the antitrust regulator’s warning.
According to Reuters,Ā a court rejected Apple’s appeal, giving Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service grounds to continue its investigation into Apple’s App Store rules. The company has several legal disputes with Russia. A class-action lawsuit alleges that the company’s shutdown of its payment platform in Russia caused “deliberate moral damage” to people in the region.
Despite the tension between Russia and Ukraine, the company is still attending to its legal disputes in Russia. However, the company is not running its regular business. According to reports, its stores are no longer active in Russia.
