Russian customs are turning around Xiaomi smartphones - how to get around it. An alternative to Xiaomi smartphones that are not allowed through customs
Yesterday I received my Xiaomi Mi6 at the Russian Post office, which I ordered less than a month ago from China. In modern times, consider yourself lucky, because customs, together with the Russian representative office represented by Smart Orange, are clearly against such fraud. I’ll tell you how I did it right now.
Yaroslavna's lament
Let's start with the fact that I have to cry. I was not invited to the first official presentation of Xiaomi in Moscow that recently took place in Moscow. Why? I don't know. I communicate with PR services of almost all vendors, including Samsung and even Apple. The latter, however, very politely send me (and not only me), but nevertheless. But somehow the relationship with Smart Orange did not work out, so my absence from the presentation is not surprising. Although no, on the contrary. Considering how much material about Xiaomi is published on the site, this is doubly strange.
In any case, I still have to buy smartphones and other devices from China in order to write interesting and comprehensive reviews on them. And the main thing is to try to do it quickly. And Mi6 was purchased for the same purpose.
Where did you buy it and what about customs?
I buy most Xiaomi devices on AliExpress from this seller. We communicate closely and he promptly sells me new items. In return, I always include links in my reviews of this store, because it would be a sin not to recommend a reliable site, and secondly, we cooperate, and such relationships should be mutually beneficial.
I ordered my Xiaomi Mi6 on April 30th. Literally a day later, it turned out that at some customs points problems began with newly arrived phones - they were returned back, since the presence of gray supplies disrupted the orderly order of the universe. I immediately informed my supplier about this, to which he replied: “Don’t worry. All our orders are sent by Singapore Post, and there are no returns through it. The Finnish post office is problematic, yes, but the Singapore post office is fine.”
On May 14, the departure was registered at Vnukovo airport. It started on the same day customs clearance and on the night of the 15th the parcel was transferred for delivery throughout Russia. No delays.
On May 16, I received a smartphone at the Russian Post office in Kaluga. Thus, delivery took less than 20 days. In my opinion, an excellent result.
I unpacked the box, turned on the phone - everything works great, as it should. We'll talk about the phone in detail in the review, which will be released next week, but for now let's talk about delivery.
It is noteworthy that the customs declaration stated the following:
"ANDROID PHONE. VALUE $18.” In other words, the seller did not indicate that the phone was specifically Xiaomi inside and its actual cost ($422). And this is despite stories on the Internet that such a lengthy formulation is guaranteed to lead to opening the package in order to check what kind of “Android background” is there.
Perhaps such a scenario would actually take place if there were 150 border service officers at the customs office in Vnukovo and they processed no more than 50 parcels per day. It’s a sin not to open something, because it’s boring. However, I am sure that a little more than 50 shipments arrive at Vnukovo every day.
Push
I have ordered and will continue to order smartphones (including Xiaomi) from China. After all, even taking into account the month-long wait and at least a week of testing the device, my reviews are still published promptly. There is no point in waiting until the device officially arrives in Russia, samples appear at the representative office, and only then they get to me.
Briefly about the current situation. I don't count prices Xiaomi smartphones in Russia overpriced. Yes, perhaps they could be a little lower, but even for 30 thousand rubles it looks like a completely adequate offer. After all, we get a flagship device, and in addition official guarantee, support and system with Russian language out of the box.
I only condemn the fact that an ordinary user gets slapped on the wrist when he personally, at his own expense and exclusively for himself, tries to buy some kind of device abroad. Cunning individual entrepreneurs who organized a one-page website and resell something from China should go the distance, but ordinary citizens should not follow them. You can't do that.
The scandal around Russian customs and Xiaomi smartphones does not subside: more than 10 thousand people have already signed a petition against the ban on the import of devices. Let's find out from experts whether the actions of customs and the Xiaomi distributor are legal.
What's happened?
In Russia, cases of postal shipments containing Xiaomi smartphones being delayed at customs have become more frequent. People buy them from Chinese online stores, but the parcels do not pass customs control. The reason is the appeal of the Xiaomi distributor in Russia (Smart Orange LLC): they own the rights to the “XIAOMI” trademark and have declared all devices passing through customs to be counterfeit. Therefore, customs prohibits the import of Xiaomi smartphones through postal mail.
According to rough estimates, more than a thousand Russians are faced with this situation.
Whose side is the law on: what experts say
Hi-Tech Mail.Ru talked to lawyers about this situation and found out interesting details. Experts said they had not heard of similar cases in other countries.
It is quite possible that customs will be bombarded with lawsuits, since despite the completely legitimate claims of brand rights holders, according to the law of the Russian Federation material carrier can only be declared counterfeit by a court.
As Ivan Nikitenko, an intellectual rights lawyer, explained:
A material medium can only be recognized as counterfeit by a court. That is, before the court decision comes into force, the disputed goods are correctly considered “goods with signs of counterfeiting.” This concept itself is legal. Therefore, the court must decide this.
According to Russian law, a product can only be recognized as counterfeit by a court decision.
However, the Head of the Moscow Human Rights Center Mikhail Salkin said that the actions of the distributor and the Xiaomi company are completely legal:
Customs has the right to do this - this is regulated by various laws as well as agreements. According to Russian law, customs may require you to provide a document that allows you to use a trade mark or trade mark in Russia.
Mikhail Salkin
Lawyer, head of the Moscow Human Rights Center
Lawyer Alexey Egorov also called these actions legal:
The situation is indeed quite loud. However, from the point of view of the law, the distributor, alas, is right. He is the copyright holder of the brand in Russia. This is also supported by the decision of the Federal Customs Service. Now, when receiving a smartphone, customs is obliged to send a request to the distributor, and he, of course, will answer that it is counterfeit. Therefore, online platforms selling gray models can already be considered violators Russian legislation. It is easier for them to agree with customs and send the order back than to have problems with the law. Well, or at least not write that they are selling a smartphone of this particular brand (this is just a trick, not a legal way of selling).
Position of Xiaomi and Aliexpress
Hi-Tech Mail.Ru contacted the Xiaomi press service in Russia. to find out their attitude to this situation. They know about the situation with Russian customs and the distributor:
Xiaomi is aware of the current situation and together with our partner RDC Group we are working to resolve the problem. Our fans have always been the company's top priority.
Xiaomi press service in Russia
It should be noted that Aliexpress representatives declined to make official comments.
Is there a war coming with Seryak?
So, Xiaomi smartphones are being detained at customs - this is unfortunate, but another question arises: will this become a trend? Other companies, such as Meizu or Apple, may also claim ownership of the brand and declare all devices ordered from other countries counterfeit. Then we will face a large-scale war between official distributors and sellers of “gray” devices.
The customs actions set a precedent for other companies. There are already reports that devices from Sony, Blackberry, Chuwi and some other companies have been “wrapped” in a similar way.
As Yuri Salkin said, such an outcome is quite possible. Customs services have received new equipment that allows them to examine parcels without opening them. Therefore, there is a possibility that an iPhone ordered from an uncertified online store may also get stuck at the border. There have been no such cases so far, but be careful.
So far, all cases have occurred in Yekaterinburg and Orenburg customs, which is strange. For some reason, parcels with smartphones are not detained at Moscow customs and other cities. Perhaps they have just introduced new equipment there and are testing it. So in the future, other customs offices will probably also start stopping parcels with smartphones.
Why do people even order equipment from China?
The reason is simple - the price difference between a “white” and a “gray” device reaches an average of 30-40%. Let's say Redmi Note 3 Pro in the Smart Orange store will cost you 13,490 rubles. On “Ali” there is a similar copy with global firmware estimated at 8700-9500 rubles. In the upper price segment, the difference in percentage is smaller, but in absolute numbers it is higher - the “official” Mi Note 2 costs almost 35 thousand rubles, and the “Chinese” one costs 28,781.
Are they “wrapping up” at all points?
Not really. Among indignant buyers, Ekaterinburg and especially Orenburg customs points are notorious. Users note that Xiaomi smartphones are allowed through Vnukovo almost without problems. A trend has also been noticed: several devices that arrived in Yekaterinburg in early May have been tested, but those from April are still lying around. Community subscriber Irina K. at some point began collecting statistics - which smartphones passed control and which failed. From these data it is clear that many devices are stuck in Orenburg, and the “May” devices are leaving Yekaterinburg:
Why did Smart Orange do this?
As in the case of consumers, suppliers are simply looking for their own benefit - “parallel” imports one way or another hit their pockets. It is difficult to calculate the volume of “left” deliveries, but judging by the frenzied reaction of deceived investors, a certain percentage passed by the official importer. About intentions to “strangle” gray smartphones The senior vice president of Xiaomi himself spoke at the presentation in Russia. Another thing is that such a step seems to have been designed primarily for wholesalers - Internet shuttles, who bought cheaper there and sold more expensive here. Unfortunately, it also caught the attention of ordinary users.
Will others start doing this too?
In this regard, the behavior of Meizu, a direct competitor of Xiaomi for the attention of Russian consumers, is indicative. Meizu also has a representative office in the Russian Federation, but no one is fighting the flow of gray imports - apparently, they want to drown it out not with bans, but with service and other advantages of “white” smartphones.
But there are also opposite examples, and from the well-known company Sony. The story about a guy from Surgut who ordered a PS4 Slim in Germany and received a fine recently spread all over the Internet - but there the issue is more likely to be the imperfection of the bureaucratic system: the new “Slim” simply did not have time to register in the database of the registry of notifications about the characteristics of encryption tools and goods. But the story that an employee of the Khabarovsk customs press service told to AmurMedia deserves close attention:
“There was a precedent when we turned back a parcel with Sony PlayStation, because the copyright holder said that he did not give permission to import,” Victoria Aleshina, press service of the customs point of the Khabarovsk Territory.
Victoria clarified that if a product is found in a parcel that is included in the list of Rospatent, then a request is sent to the copyright holder - whether he gave permission to import. If the manufacturer refuses, the goods are returned to the seller. Judging by customer reviews, Sony is now pursuing exactly this tactic.
Ok, I bought a smartphone, but it got stuck at customs, what should I do?
Strictly speaking, you have two options. Of these, only one can lead to a satisfactory solution to your local problem.
Option 1. Going to court with the Federal Customs Service, which is long and tedious. Even if the outcome is successful, the trial may last more than one year. By then, the smartphone will no longer be relevant. Plus there is the overhead of litigation to consider.
Option 2. Try to get the money back. This option is preferable, if only because there are successful precedents. To refund, you need to make a request to the customs office about the reasons for the return, then open a dispute and attach a scan of the response there, explaining that the transport company returned the goods.
Officials create all sorts of obstacles. Just recently, a case of administrative violation was opened against a resident of Surgut for importing the Sony Playstation-4 game console. And all because the set-top box can access the Internet using encryption (cryptographic) means. It would seem that this is absurd, but it turned out that there are even more absurd things.
At the end of April 2017, customs began to unwrap parcels containing Xiaomi products, citing counterfeit products. In reality, of course, there is no counterfeit. This article includes parallel imports, when products are supplied not only by official importers. The justification given is the illegal use of the Xiaomi trademark. If previously the ban on parallel imports applied only to goods and services for sale, now it suddenly began to apply to the import of goods for personal use by individuals.
The legality of customs actions raises questions. Moreover, goods supplied for commercial purposes are recognized as counterfeit by a court decision, while parcels with Xiaomi goods for individuals arriving from abroad are simply turned back by customs.
The Federal Customs Service of Russia maintains a register of intellectual property objects. Customs authorities may suspend the release of goods that violate intellectual property rights, including the right to use trademarks. In the case of parcels for individuals, the Federal Customs Service independently determines signs of counterfeit products, based on the data of the copyright holder.
The letter of the Federal Customs Service of Russia dated March 15, 2017 N 14-40/12293 “On the XIAOMI trademark” specifies measures to protect the Xiaomi trademark. Beijing Xiaomi Technology Co., Ltd is listed as the copyright holder of the Xiaomi trademark, and the following are listed as official importers:
- LLC "SMART ORANGE"
- LLC "MIXTECH"
- LLC "Retentive Distribution Company"
- LLC "Consul"
I have only one answer to such actions by official Xiaomi importers - a complete boycott of this company’s products. It makes no sense to pay Russian sellers 2 times more for Xiaomi smartphones. And ignoring the problem will soon lead to a complete ban on the parallel import of electronics into international postal items(MPO). The same iPhone, Sony and Nokia trademarks are on the same intellectual property registry.
The environment shapes consciousness, and in Moscow this definition of historical materialism becomes literally visible. We are undergoing the next stage of city improvement, in which it is necessary to dig up the main streets, narrow the roads and create a million traffic jams. Some are ready to endure this, others are throwing thunder and lightning, they want to immediately get a comfortable city without intermediate stages, preferably in one night. I fell asleep, woke up, and here it is, the city of dreams. But I remembered this moment because of how our lives are beginning to transform. On a weekday you can usually drive along the Garden Ring from Krasnoproletarskaya Street to Smolensky Passage in ten minutes, taking into account the heavy traffic. On Friday the same journey took me fifty minutes! During this time it was possible to walk, and another ten minutes would have been left. Considering the density of meetings, I understood that I would not have time to get to the restaurant, order food and eat what I ordered. Therefore, I asked my friend to take a photo of the menu and send it to me so that he could place an order. By the time I got there, the food was ready and we were able to start eating immediately. I told this to my friends as an illustration of the traffic situation, and in response I heard that they often do this now - and not with friends, but order food from restaurants remotely and indicate approximately when they will be there. This service is gaining momentum, at least for regular visitors to expensive and not very busy places. The environment is changing our habits, and I am sure that restaurant applications will begin to appear in which it will be possible to leave such guaranteed orders, and the restaurants themselves will immediately write off the money from the linked bank card, and there will be no risk for them that you won’t arrive and won’t pay for your order. A new approach is being formed, which is dictated by changes in the road situation. And if you look around, you will find many such examples of changes in our way of life, some noticeable, some still hidden from our eyes. I will be glad if you share your experience in the comments and what you have encountered.
Let's start this issue with the topic of cross-border trade and the problems that may await buyers of a number of goods and brands.
Customs confiscates Xiaomi and Sony smartphones - let's look into the reasons
When you have the “best” smartphone in the world, you also need to buy it at best price, preferably in China. The segment of those who buy smartphones from Xiaomi and other similar brands in Russia, ordering them by mail, is quite large. This is approximately 20-30 thousand people every month, plus those who make their own small business on this, buy smartphones for resale; in total, there are approximately 65-70 thousand Chinese smartphones in parcels every month. With the average price of such a smartphone being $200, we can say that this is a significant piece of the pie. Moreover, the user does not pay any taxes on such devices, which makes it possible to achieve a very effective price in comparison with the Russian one, when the product is on the shelves of local stores and the manufacturer or its representative is obliged to honor the warranty, pay VAT and cover other expenses. It is economically impossible to achieve the same price in China and Russia due to different devices market, and also the fact that products, despite the same name and index, often differ in “little things”, production costs. For the Chinese domestic market, many products receive completely different qualities, this applies to both components and assembly lines. At the level of common sense, we are accustomed to thinking that they make goods better for ourselves; in China, as a rule, everything is topsy-turvy; there, goods for the local market are of worse quality than those that are exported. Almost the same story happened in the USSR.
So, here's the beginning of the story, our reader sent me the following message on Twitter:
For ordinary buyers, purchasing in foreign stores phones have long become commonplace, but there are several pitfalls that people forget about. First, in Russia there is a FSB notification for encryption tools. This means that the manufacturer or its representative must send the name of the device model (smartphone or any other device) to the FSB and indicate that it does not contain any means of strong cryptographic protection. In turn, the FSB adds this model to the database used by customs. If you ordered a device for which there is no FSB notification, then the likelihood that it will not be delivered to you is maximum. An example of such a device is in the delivery screenshot.
An important point - customs at post offices does not have the ability to open all items, inspection is carried out randomly. This is not even every tenth parcel, their number is much smaller. In large sorting centers X-ray machines have appeared that can show the contents of a parcel, so today no one tries to send a phone under the guise of books, these days are irrevocably gone. The actual postal item is indicated.
But those who want to get a phone that does not have notification, as a rule, negotiate with the sender to indicate a model that has this notification. In this way, these obstacles are circumvented. Very often, when buying the same LeEco, people indicate Russian model names, although inside there may be anything from LeEco. And then everything depends on whether there will be a random check on your parcel and how attentive the customs officer will be. As a rule, such parcels pass through smoothly.
Now the second situation, which they wrote to me about, is sending back “counterfeit” goods. Let's look at it using the example of Xiaomi, which became a pioneer in the fight against its own goods, which it was even able to call counterfeit. So, not long ago an official distributor of Xiaomi, the RDC Group company, appeared in Russia. The subsidiary company “Smart Orange” is responsible for sales, marketing and work with the Xiaomi brand in Russia, all relevant rights are received from the parent, Chinese company that owns the brand.
The problem for RDC Group is that the Xiaomi brand is popular in Russia in narrow circles of enthusiasts who know for sure that these smartphones are “better”, defend their honor in online battles, but are not ready to pay a price higher than what they have delivery from China. And the difference between Russian and Chinese price can be on average 30%, which you can see for yourself by looking at the official online store and the same Aliexpress.
It is difficult to explain to the buyer why it is impossible for an official business in Russia to sell at the same price; every person wants to get a favorable price for the product, and all related issues are of little concern to him. Likewise, he considers the quality of the goods to be the same, and attempts to explain that this is not so do not bother him. I especially like how people deliberately go about flashing devices at home, spend quite a lot of time on it, but feel that they have received a benefit. In order to decide on such experiments, you need your hands to grow from the right place, or the desire to save money must outweigh everything.
The example of Meizu shows that properly selected sales channels in Russia can easily operate in parallel with cross-border trade and not interfere with anyone. That is, there is a market for gray Meizu, as well as those that were officially imported. The difference in price between them is noticeable, but the gray ones are sold by orders of magnitude less; this market has never become widespread, while the distributor of the brand is developing the business and has made it noticeably larger.
I personally expected exactly the same approach from the RDC Group, but the company apparently thought that parcels with Xiaomi smartphones threatened sales in Russia, so they decided to limit them. The company has legal grounds for this, since the Chinese Xiaomi has granted all rights to the brand to its partner and written corresponding letters to the Federal Customs Service of the Russian Federation.
In turn, “Smart Orange” listed all partners who have the right to officially import Xiaomi smartphones into Russia. First of all, the company was concerned not with individuals, but with those who put this business on stream, wholesalers. But private individuals fell under the distribution by accident; nevertheless, restrictions also applied to them. Now all individuals or companies that import smartphones and other Xiaomi devices into Russia in any way and are not on the list from Smart Orange violate the rights of the Xiaomi brand. This is the law, and it works. Users have looked for a provision that supposedly exempts private parcels from these restrictions, but, unfortunately, this is not the case. Here is the lawyer's comment:
By virtue of paragraphs. 2 p. 1 art. 313 of the Customs Code of the Customs Union, it is not allowed to send goods prohibited for shipment in accordance with the acts of the Universal Postal Union in international mail. In turn, the Universal Postal Convention (adopted in Doha on October 11, 2012) in paragraph 2.1.3 prohibits the sending of counterfeit and pirated items.
Signs of counterfeit goods are determined by the country party to the Universal Postal Convention.
In particular, based on the interpretation of paragraph 1 of Art. 1515, paragraph 4 of Art. 1252 and art. 1487 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, as well as clause 15 of the Information Letter of the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated December 13, 2007 No. 122, the importation into the territory of the Russian Federation of goods marked with a trademark is an independent way of using it. According to Art. 1487 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the use of this trademark by other persons in relation to goods that are put into civil circulation in the territory is not a violation of the exclusive right to a trademark Russian Federation directly by the copyright holder or with his consent. Thus, goods imported without the consent of the copyright holder, whose interests in the territory of the Russian Federation are represented by SMART ORANGE LLC, are counterfeit, since they violate the exclusive rights to the trademark of the copyright holder.
IN in this case The above rules of law apply, and not paragraphs. 1 item 2 art. 328 TK TS, because by virtue of paragraph 4 of Art. 15 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, generally recognized principles and norms of international law have the highest legal force in relation to internal legal norms.
The prohibition of this method of using a trademark, such as the import of goods marked with a Trademark into the territory of the Russian Federation, is aimed at compliance with the international obligations of the Russian Federation in the field of protection of intellectual property rights in accordance with Part 4 of Art. 15, part 1 art. 44 and paragraphs. "o" art. 71 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation and does not contradict Part 1 of Art. 74 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation."
The Federal Customs Service of the Russian Federation is guided by precisely this interpretation; I was unofficially told by a customs representative that in at the moment restrictions were only at a number of customs points, but they will apply to larger number points and will gradually start working everywhere. Until the moment we are separate individuals will not go through litigation and cannot prove that such actions are illegal, no changes will be made. It is quite difficult to win a case against the Federal Customs Service, plus it will take years, that is, by that time the whole point of this idea will be lost, since new restrictions on cross-border sales will already be in effect.
Official comments I was unable to get information about the situation at Smart Orange; the topic is too sensitive. However, I met with one of the company's employees and, on condition of anonymity, he was able to say the following:
- Restrictions for private individuals were a consequence of the fight against wholesalers, but not an end in themselves;
- As soon as these restrictions arose, the company decided that this was an interesting approach and planned to increase pressure on this market segment, without planning to make any concessions.
Circumstances have developed in such a way that people who have bought and are buying Xiaomi equipment in China are almost guaranteed to encounter problems when delivering it to Russia by mail. While there is a gap when not all customs points wrap such items and there are a sufficient number of “lucky” ones, but their number will decrease more and more every day. The only way to remove the ban would be to withdraw the letter from Smart Orange, but this would open the door to wholesale supplies, which automatically means this is impossible.
What can I say? The company has the right to independently decide how to conduct business in other markets, including the Russian one. This means that buying Xiaomi equipment turns into a kind of lottery, and the only guaranteed way is to buy it within the country. For example, Meizu is not going to go the same route, leaving this channel for those consumers who want to have a choice of which device to buy, Chinese or Russian. The same can be said about most companies operating in Russia. Of those who tried to learn from experience, I would like to mention only the Sony company; a source at customs said that it had prepared a similar appeal for a number of goods and the restrictions would be similar to those imposed on Xiaomi in private parcels and not only in them.
Those who are faced with this problem are already trying to find a way out. If your phone is stuck on the road or has already been sent back, try to get your money back from the seller. Those who are just making a purchase try to come up with a workaround, for example, simply indicating “smartphone” on the box, without the name of the manufacturer. This is an almost guaranteed check of the parcel, and then your “smartphone” will go back in the same way. It’s also not worth making up names, since there is no notification for fictitious phones, and they will also be turned back.
Buying abroad has always been a kind of lottery, it’s just that now the chances for the buyer have worsened, this is worth taking into account. If Xiaomi's example turns out to be effective, and the outrage in social networks quickly falls silent, as is usually the case, then other manufacturers may adopt this experience and begin to do the same. So you can consider this story as the first sign. Whether this business approach will continue depends on the reaction of people and its strength.
First quarter in the smartphone market - version from IDC
Data has arrived from IDC about who was great in the first quarter of 2017 in the smartphone market. Let me remind you that these are exclusively shipments to the channel, that is, in fact, the figures for wholesale deliveries, and not retail sales. Let's look at the sign.
The first thing you notice is the constant sales volume of both Samsung and Apple, both companies look stable in terms of sales volume, they have reached the saturation point. To grow in sales, they need to make major changes to their product line and how they position and market their products. Both companies are experiencing the same difficulties, in particular, the flagships of both Apple and Samsung have faced a drop in demand in China; the local market consumes local brands with great pleasure. Oddly enough, the reason for the fall in the share in China is not that Chinese phones are cheaper, the flagships from Vivo and OPPO are comparable, but the lack of a wide network of retail stores that promote these products. It is impossible to find exact data on exactly how many stores Vivo/OPPO (BBK Corporation) built in 2016. Moreover, BBK Corporation does not have an exact number, since many stores open as franchisees and purchase goods from local players, a kind of hubs. Conservative estimates suggest that Vivo had around 200,000 stores in China, while OPPO was far behind and was only able to cover most of the country with 150,000 stores. In 2016, there was a retail war in China, when the same BBK Corporation took over LeEco (LeTV) stores, offering better conditions and a kind of profit guarantee for local players who repainted their outlets depending on the choice of a particular brand. What is surprising here is that both OPPO and Vivo use the same approach, strategy, they have a similar model range, but they really compete with each other for the same stores and sellers. They don't come as a single sentence, with single center management represented by BBK Corporation. Marvelous? Wrong word.
In the first quarter, a qualitative change occurred for these two brands; it is associated with expansion into the foreign markets of Asia, in particular, into India; it is not even worth mentioning other countries against the backdrop of India. The surprising thing is that the same Vivo has completely adapted its Chinese strategy for India and has already achieved success in this. They go from small towns and settlements to large ones, open shops in rural areas and only then enter big cities. The result is already noticeable, this strategy is working, and it is completely contrary to what we see in the approach of Apple and Samsung, they go to the market from the top down, first open stores in large, rich cities and only then go down. The problem for them is that in the person of BBK Corporation they have received their antagonist, a company that is eating the market from the other end, while having a comparable model range with the same Samsung in the budget and mid-range segments.
The expansion of these Chinese companies will not continue forever; they are already facing a growth problem. Without access to other foreign markets, for example, American or European, further growth cannot be expected. There is no doubt that BBK Corporation will try to do this. How far they will be able to do this remains an open question. So far, they are successful due to the fact that they work according to a proven scheme in countries where it is applicable and where the costs of opening retail outlets are borne by the sellers themselves. In Russia, for example, such a scheme will not work; a completely different approach is needed here. Can they learn it quickly? Not sure. But there is no doubt that BBK Corporation can still grow in 2017 and the first half of 2018. Together with OnePlus, the company has already overtaken Apple in the first quarter of 2017 in unit sales, becoming number two after Samsung.
Interestingly, Huawei achieved significant growth due to the situation in China; the company adopted the strategy of BBK Corporation, which immediately yielded results. The key to success in China today is simple - the maximum number of retail outlets that sell your product. Against this background, Lenovo looks amazing, which was born thanks to this understanding, but during the transformation process forgot about it and became more European than Chinese. For which she was punished by the local market.
The last thing worth paying attention to is the sales of smartphones in the “Other” category. We are not seeing any growth in this category, which perfectly characterizes the situation of many B/C brands. They are having a difficult time because the market is very saturated. In foreign markets, Chinese brands also feel in the best possible way, they are feverish. The example of Russia shows this very well. The problem for them is that the same Samsung launched an increase in prices for components and the cost of production has increased significantly. This is best illustrated by Samsung's quarterly report, in which record sales were driven by its components division rather than by mobile devices. Samsung's revenue for the quarter was $44.6 billion and operating profit was $8.75 billion. Phone revenue fell nearly 50% year-on-year, partly due to write-downs on the Note 7. However, it was components that made it a record quarter. But in the second quarter, the appearance of the Galaxy S8/S8+ in reporting will make this record a thing of the past, and profits will increase noticeably. The whole of 2017 promises to be successful for Samsung, and individual problems, for example, with TVs and their sales against the background of LG OLED TVs, will not be particularly noticeable. In the same LG, the first quarter was also successful, but the reason was solely due to televisions, while the mobile division has remained unprofitable for two years.
I’m interested in how LG/Samsung, for example, will reinvest the income received in new directions, what companies will do in the market and what they will get in the end. In 2017, they will make decisions to adjust their strategies based on the additional revenue they receive.
To summarize what I said about the market, I would like to repeat what I said earlier. In 2017, we will see a stable market with moderate growth. Large companies will improve their positions, weak players may experience serious problems and will begin to optimize their costs.
Frequency aggregation in Galaxy S8/S8+ and an example of use in practice
Even during the deployment of 3G networks, I encountered an interesting phenomenon - there is always some grumbling, eternally dissatisfied user who declares that all these new technologies are of no use to anyone, do not work and everything is a hoax. Moreover, he gives specific examples, for example, he says that in his city/village/metropolitan area the operator cannot even provide normal EDGE, and you are talking about some 3G speeds. And the main thing is that we don’t need to show these speeds, we will never see them in practice. There are many such people, and they come up in discussions every time there is a story about new technologies. We even have a whole country nearby in which the majority of the progressive population argued quite seriously that 3G is not needed, and Wi-Fi is enough for everyday life. This is how we lived, switching from EDGE to Wi-Fi.
Following the launch of 3G and then the emergence and development of 4G, deployment in Russia LTE Advanced in many regions and cities, only a very narrow-minded person can say that new technologies and the speeds they provide are something unnecessary. We are not talking about any individual records; no one needs them. We are talking about the continued evolution of communication networks, and this is very important point for all of us, the industry does not stand still, but develops.
My main operator is MegaFon; in Moscow it has an excellent 4G network that works without any complaints, and is absolutely ideal for data transfer. I can be called a “heavy” subscriber, since in a week I receive 20-30 GB of data through my phone, mostly work files. And for me, the speed of network access and its reliability are critical. It's difficult to sit and download from ftp large file for hours, as it happened the other day in Vienna, where I was faced with restrictions of local networks, after the first gigabyte my speed was simply cut, although there were no restrictions in the package, the reason was the local load on the base station.
After I switched to S8+, it seemed to me that files loaded faster, it turned out like this subjective impression. I attributed this to the perception of the new device, and not to reality. Moreover, having run Speedtest a couple of times, I didn’t get anything extraordinary, ordinary numbers, quite comparable to the S7 EDGE. In one of the conversations with the operator’s engineer, I mentioned this, and he said the following: “Speedtest can not be used for these purposes, it will not show you the speed, since it uses a small file, in LTE Advanced it is good to test the speed on files of 300-500 MB to see the upload or download speed, but in this software the file is small, and you simply won’t notice anything.” I was advised to install the free “Connection Speed” utility, as it demonstrates real speed in the moment. And here a new one opened wonderful world, the download speed has really increased, and this is clearly visible in this utility. I tried downloading files from an ftp server, I admit that when downloading from other servers the speed will be greater, but there was no goal to achieve maximum speed. In Moscow, MegaFon has already updated about a thousand stations and supports frequency aggregation, which is available in S8/S8+. In theory, the speed ceiling for devices is 450 Mbit/s, in practice it’s about 400 Mbit/s, and in my case on my server it’s about 380 Mbit/s. Fine? Undoubtedly.
We even recorded a short video about this, because it seemed interesting to me when, without much fanfare or any special messages, it becomes possible to transfer files very quickly on your network.
You can moan about the fact that these speeds are not needed, there is no way to use them, and the list goes on. But why? Progress cannot be stopped, and the evolution of networks is good and correct. Within a couple of years, such opportunities will become available to all residents of Russia in one form or another. Whether you need it is another matter. A good question, which directly depends on what you do and how actively you consume data. It is possible that an EDGE connection is enough for you, the only question is where you find it.
Tell us, what do you think, is it necessary for networks to develop? Or will they be enough for you in the form they are today for many, many years?
2017 Vertu Constellation - first impressions
Vertu Constellation goes on sale in June; due to the sale of Vertu, the release was postponed from spring, and it falls at an unusual time. A review of the device will appear in the coming days, but for now I’ll present a few impressions, however, we already had a first look at the model.
The price of this smartphone starts from 301 thousand rubles in the basic version, that is, this is the most inexpensive Vertu that exists today, and this in absentia guarantees the public’s interest in it. The first thing you notice is the size; the phone turns out to be very massive and rather large - 161.5x77x10 mm, weight - 241 grams. It fits in my pocket, but it sticks out, I can’t call it thin, I’m even somehow unaccustomed to such sizes.
Great skin, memorable appearance and, of course, the same call that you recognize from thousands. Perhaps this is why I always leave the ringer on on Vertu and don’t switch to vibrate. This sometimes creates funny situations, the other day this phone rang on the subway, the whole car looked at me carefully and then the phone, which can play so loudly and melodiously. It is clear that this phone is not for the metro, but increasingly, owners of expensive cars are losing the battle with Moscow traffic jams and are sent underground in a figurative sense. Although the well-known Moscow snobbery allows some to spend hours in traffic jams, just not to get out of the cozy and artificial world outside. As for me, snobbery has already turned into folklore, and the majority have simply begun to live a quiet life, in which there is no place for outright showing off. Perhaps it's age related? Are there many young people around who have not followed this path? I don’t know, but it feels like all this is happening in different age groups, and this can only be welcomed.
You can criticize Vertu for anything, but no one will deny that this device has its own unique appearance. I like Constellation for this reason; it cannot be confused with anyone else on the market. The operating time on one charge is good, however, I use it as a second phone for calls, and less so for everything else. During the work we must thank the AMOLED screen, it is very, very good.
Sound, screen operating time and appearance are all advantages of the model. Cons? There is exactly one of them - few people can afford to buy such a device. As a result, discussions of Vertu usually come down to a simple thing - who needs all this? A well-fed person does not understand a hungry person, and the opposite is also true.
I won’t run ahead of the locomotive, I’ll write a review, and in it we will discuss the technical characteristics, as well as the positioning of the device. It turned out well, but will the old Vertu audience return to such models? This issue is the main one for the company, and not something from the field of technical achievements.
P.S. A day off is a day off, and therefore I want to wish you excellent weather and a boost of energy for the rest of the week. Let not only the sun warm you, but also the mood inside.
Smart Orange LLC, a distributor of smartphones from the Chinese brand Xiaomi, now has full rights as the copyright holder in Russia. As a result, customs is carrying out a massive seizure of parcels containing Xiaomi smartphones and accessories and returning them to Chinese sellers. And at the moment, you can purchase Redmi and Mi series smartphones in Russia with an impressive markup. We want to tell you how you can replace Xiaomi smartphones with other worthy Chinese smartphones.
Xiaomi phones can be replaced with decent alternative Meizu smartphones. The most important thing is that you don’t have to overpay. And you can buy a decent chinese phone at the same cost.
What can replace Redmi 4A?
The Xiaomi Redmi 4A smartphone belongs to the budget series. Has a 5-inch display with HD resolution. Runs on 4-core Snapdragon processor 425 with Adreno 308 graphics. This budget solution, And high performance You shouldn't expect anything from him. There is only 2 GB of RAM and 16/32 GB of storage. The smartphone is equipped with a 13 megapixel main camera and a 5 megapixel front camera. Xiaomi Redmi 4A has a 3120 mAh battery and runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow OS with MIUI 8.2 interface. You can watch the full review.
A good alternative would be Meizu smartphone M5. Yes, indeed many people may not like a special corporate design companies and even the interface. But these are all minor things.
The M5 smartphone belongs to the budget series and has a plastic body, like Redmi 4A. Meizu M5 has a 5.2 inch HD screen with a protective 2.5D. Powered by 8-core Mediatek MT6750 chip clock frequency 1.5 GHz. There are two memory options available: 2 GB + 16 GB will cost $103 and 3 GB + 32 GB will cost $132. The main camera is 13 MP with F/2.2 aperture with PDAF, fast auto focus and dual-tone LED flash, and a 5 MP front camera. You can see the full review of the smartphone.
Replacement option for Redmi 3S, 3X, Redmi 4, 4X smartphones
The main advantage, which is also its main disadvantage, is a huge 6.44-inch display with Full HD resolution, covered with 2.5D glass. Powered by 6-core Snapdragon 650 processor, 3 GB RAM and 32/64 GB storage permanent memory, 4850 mAh battery.
Both smartphones have Full HD resolution, Corning Gorilla glass protection, but different displays. The PHAB 2 Plus has a 6.4-inch with 2.5D curved glass, while the Mi Max has a 6.44-inch display. Lenovo PHAB 2 Plus runs on eight-core processor MediaTek MT8783 with 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of internal memory + slot for MicroSD card up to 256 GB. Phablet Mi Max Powered by a higher-quality 6-core Snapdragon 650 chip with 3 GB of RAM, 32 GB of internal memory + a hybrid slot for a MicroSD card up to 128 GB. The phablet has a dual 13 MP main camera and an 8 MP front camera, while the Mi Max has a 16 MP and 5 MP selfie camera. The Mi Max has a 4850 mAh battery, while the PHAB 2 Plus has a slightly smaller 4050 mAh battery.
I also want to note that it is another worthy competitor for the Xiaomi Mi Max smartphone. The Nubia Z11 Max phablet has a 6-inch Full HD screen, 16-megapixel main and 8-megapixel front camera, 8-core processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 652, 4 GB of RAM, 64 GB of internal memory, expandable with microSD cards up to 200 GB. Battery capacity 4000 mAh.
Options for replacing the flagships Xiaomi Mi 5, Mi 5S, Mi5S Plus, Mi 6
Xiaomi Mi 5 is the first smartphone in the history of Xiaomi devices that was equipped with a physical front button, instead of the classic three capacitive keys. Smartphones have very good technical characteristics. I wonder what can replace them?
