Apple pulls the plug on online sales in Russia as Ruble nosedives

[Himanshu Arora]

In a move that highlights the country’s worsening economic conditions, Apple has stopped online sales in Russia citing "extreme fluctuations" in the local currency, the ruble.

This is a significant move considering that the company doesn’t have any Apple stores in Russia. Although Apple has tie-ups with some Russian carriers and retailers, Apple's online store remains its main interface with consumers in the country.

“Our online store in Russia is currently unavailable while we review pricing,” said a company spokesperson. “We apologize to customers for any inconvenience.”

Apple’s decision to pull the plug on sales comes just weeks after the company increased Russian prices for iPhones by about 25 percent. This resulted in, for example, a 16GB iPhone 6 costing 39,990 rubles, which was equivalent to $859 then, but just $575 now.

That price hike came in the wake of the sharp devaluation of the ruble against the US dollar. Just to give you an idea, Russia’s currency weakened nearly 25 percent against the dollar since September 1, and in the past one year, it has plunged over 50 percent.

Some of the major factors that have attributed to Russia’s freefalling economy include the drop in oil prices, economic sanctions applied by the US and the European Union in the wake of its invasion of Crimea, the dispute over Eastern Ukraine, and others.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/59179-apple-pulls-plug-online-sales-russia-ruble-nosedives.html

 

[MeladT]

Makes sense, otherwise Russians with family living in foreign countries would be getting bargains even with the airport tax added on.

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

I doubt 99.9% of Russians are going to care or even notice Apples absence. We have a few iStores in my country although I don't see any point in having them, the 9 that are relatively close to me I've never seen more than a handful of people in them at any one time unlike their oppositions stores of which there are a lot more are often packed to the rafters.

 

[RustyTech]

"in the wake of its invasion of Crimea"

You guys do know that the citizens of Crimea voted to be annexed into Russia, right? I don't think that qualifies as an invasion lol

 

[Uncle Al]

Now there's one "sanction" that Mr. Putin wasn't expecting, besides the Russian version is probably 100% larger and weighs 50 lbs. Remember the first MIG jet that we captured? It's fuel tanks required 3x the fuel of it's American counterpart and they found the engine was made primarily of cast iron .... wow, what technology!

 

[Raoul Duke]

"in the wake of its invasion of Crimea"

You guys do know that the citizens of Crimea voted to be annexed into Russia, right? I don't think that qualifies as an invasion lol

This isn't a political forum so all I will say is please do some reading of the long history of the problems of this region. Only 4 countries with membership in the UN (other than Russia) recognize it. The peninsula was filled with military personnel equipped with Russian weapons and in Russian-made uniform without insignia. Only then was the referendum called for

 

[Guest]

I have a feeling this won't be the only company pulling out of the Russian market, unless they require payment in their host county currency.

 

[Guest]

"in the wake of its invasion of Crimea"
You guys do know that the citizens of Crimea voted to be annexed into Russia, right? I don't think that qualifies as an invasion lol

you do know that noone cared about population opinion, you had only 2 options on referendum yes and yes, if you, Ukrainian-nazist-fascist-pig-swine, have other opinion, be ready for consequences, thats how it works in russia
in any case apple will withdraw from russia, since with new laws they need to store all russian citizens data in russian data centers

 

[Guest]

Try reading a proper news resource before believing that the so-called "referendum" was legitimate and not a foreign takeover.