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Apple products, including the new Vision Pro headset, are in stores in Russia, despite the company banning exports of products to the country in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine.
Apple’s official website in Russia remains offline, showing only an animated Apple logo and a message in Russian that says “The Apple Store is currently closed,” but third-party retailers are selling Apple products. Trading continues to be strong.
Apple did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment, but an Apple spokesperson previously said Apple Vision Pro is “available only at Apple Retail Stores in the United States.”
According to Reuters, the device went on sale in the United States on February 2, and is now available in stores of Russian consumer electronics chain M.Video-Eldorado. The iPhone 14 and 15 have previously appeared on the Russian market despite Apple’s order to end sales in the country.
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Moscow has developed a “gray market” using “parallel imports,” where retailers can import products without the permission of the trademark owner. The policy was aimed at reducing the impact of harsh sanctions imposed after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
A woman walks past the Re:Store boutique in a shopping mall in Moscow on March 13, 2023. (Vlad Karkov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images / Getty Images)
At the time, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said of the move, “This approach will ensure the transportation of goods to our country, despite the unfriendly actions of foreign politicians,” and told the Ministry of Industry and Trade. added that it will compile a list soon. Of parallel imports accepted.
M.Video-Eldorado advertises its ability to “introduce Russians to the latest innovations in the world of gadgets” as customers can personally test the product before purchasing, and sells for $3,500 domestically. This indicates that Vision Pro is not in short supply. In the US, it costs almost twice as much in Russia.
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Russian technology blogger Sergei Romantsev told CNBC that the process of getting the product around the ban was “nothing complicated.” People simply purchase this product within the United States and take it on their trip to Russia via Turkey.
A man uses Apple Inc.’s mixed reality glasses “Apple Vision Pro” at Mobile World Congress, the telecommunications industry’s largest annual gathering, held in Barcelona, Spain on February 27, 2024. (Pau Barena/AFP via Getty Images)
“Through New York, Istanbul and Moscow, we delivered our vision very quickly,” Romantsev wrote in an email exchange with the outlet.
“Officially, Apple does not sell anything in Russia. Russian companies buy equipment in other countries and bring it to their stores,” he said. “This has increased prices so much that Vision Pro in Moscow now costs $5,000 instead of $3,500.”
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Romantsev said Apple remains popular in Russia, where consumers are still willing to pay against the odds to get the latest products and will continue to get them even with an influx of third-party vendor support. argued that it is difficult.
Russian Communist Party candidate Nikolai Kharitonov in the 2024 presidential election holds an iPhone during a wreath-laying ceremony at a monument in the heroic city of Stalingrad to commemorate the Day of Defenders of the Fatherland on February 23, 2024. (Contributor/Getty Images)
Due to its popularity, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has cracked down on government officials using iPhones due to fears of American espionage, according to the Financial Times.
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A source close to the government agency that banned Apple products told the Financial Times, “Ministerial security officials (FSB employees in civilian positions such as deputy ministers) believe that the iPhone is no longer considered safe and that alternatives are available.” “We announced that we should look for something,” he said. .
The media claimed that personal use of Apple products is allowed, similar to the ban on China’s Huawei products in the United States, also due to espionage concerns.
