As Russia invades Ukraine, many big tech companies of the US have put sanctions on Russia to show their support to Ukraine. These companies like Google, Facebook, Apple, SpaceX, and Twitter have suspended their services in Ukraine. As for Apple, in February the company decided to stop shipping its hardware and also iPhones, iPads, and Mac.
This decision by Apple offended the people of Russia that later this month a video got viral where we get to see a father and son duo hammering their iPad while recording it and in their native language the man shows his anger. The video was viewed by millions of people.
The decision of not shipping products to Russia is one of the bold steps by the company amidst a war but at the same time, it is affecting the company. As per some analysts, Apple is losing 3 million dollars every single day by suspending its services in Russia. As of 2020, the revenue stood at $5.93 billion, while in 2019, the figure was at $5.2 billion. Overall, between 2014 and 2021, the figure has spiked almost 200 percent. However, Apple is not the major smartphone selling company in Russia but in a couple of years, Apple was gaining ground in Russia as almost 15% of the Russian population uses Apple products, according to Counterpoint Research, which estimates Apple sold around 32 million iPhones in the country last year. Quite of a loss.
The loss of potential customers is not the only loss that they are dealing with. The Russian population is majorly dependent on Samsung-a Chinese smartphone company. Samsung owns 32% of the population of Russia becoming the top most selling smartphone in Russia. Tim Wood, the CEO of Apple said. “It is a big player in the technology space and one of the most valuable companies in the world”. Therefore, Samsung is Apple’s rival in this war. Apple has to compete with the Chinese company. After Apple’s decision on Russia, the move has placed pressure on other brands like Samsung that have also stopped shipping products to the country.
“Consequently, the exit by the two manufacturers might be a window of expansion for Chinese operators that are likely to stay put. However, such firms might suffer the impact of any follow-up sanctions that can bar companies from operating in Russia using U.S. origin technology,” the report noted.
