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It is necessary to change the stereotype among fellow citizens that domestic means low-quality, Olga Shernek noted. “Consumers need to determine what Russianness means in a device so that they can be proud of having purchased a Russian laptop or smartphone,” she said.

Russian manufacturers do not always need to invent and discover something new; it is worth remembering the engineering experience of the USSR and returning to what they once knew how to do, says Alexey Melnikov, managing partner of the F+ tech group.

In May, the company added the content writing service Russian smartphone F+ tech R570E to the register; it runs on the Aurora OS and is manufactured at GS Group facilities.

In some segments of Russian electronics, vendors are already making a product that is not inferior in quality to foreign analogues, said Sergey Zudin, Managing Director of SberDevices, at the conference. For example, this is the niche of smart speakers.



The hardware base of most Russian devices remains foreign. At the same time, no country in the world has all the necessary components for the production of smartphones, experts agree. Olga Shernek noted that

the industry today understands the technological process and knows what range of component base we can localize in the country quickly

The Russian consumer electronics market has quickly recovered under sanctions and made up for losses due to the departure of Western vendors, assured Alexander Onishchuk, President of the Association of Trading Companies and Manufacturers of Household Electrical and Computer Equipment (RATEK).

Tagir Kalimullin, "M.Video-Eldorado":

– Parallel imports were allowed in May 2022, we started importing at the beginning of July, and in November last year the range of goods was almost completely restored.

The head of RATEK indicated that

the presence of factories in the country is a guarantee of market stability, but players cannot be forced to build capacities; there must be good will

The expert noted the complexity of the process: the creation of gadget production and, for example, enterprises producing household appliances, of which there have always been many in Russia, differ.

Alexander Onischuk, RATEK:

– Smartphones are actively sold online across the border, taking into account the high duty-free threshold of 1 thousand euros. Small devices, unlike large equipment, are easier to counterfeit, and it is also easier to import such counterfeit goods.

In conditions of such “competition”, only true optimists can open production of electronic devices, the expert noted.

Fedor Boyarkov spoke about examples of success of domestic mass competitive productions. Thus, GS Group produces 2.5 million Tricolor set-top boxes per year.

Olga Shernek drew attention to the need to build up competencies and create technology laboratories with the participation of students from specialized universities. Such consortiums could develop a national industrial design for devices.

The top manager of M.Video-Eldorado believes that

Domestic producers have a real chance to compete with numerous Chinese vendors who are now trying to enter the Russian market

He noted that the number of A-brand smartphones sold in retail chains now does not reach 40%, while previously it reached 70%. This is the niche that the Chinese want to occupy.

Alexey Melnikov recalled that India became the second manufacturer in the world in the consumer smartphone segment with a share of 20% due to protectionist measures.

"We can, of course, increase the share of Russian producers by establishing prohibitive duties, but in doing so we will create a black market," Tagir Kalimullin believes. In addition, these barriers will not be supported by partners from the EAEU countries, and it will not be possible to close the borders with them in the current geopolitical situation.