Russians Buy iPhone 17 Like Crazy Despite Sanctions and High Prices
Turns out, fighting Western influence is much easier when you have a shiny new titanium toy in your pocket. Despite all the state-sponsored anti-tech drama, the forbidden fruit remains the ultimate status symbol for local consumers.
The retail giant M.Video reported that the 256 GB version of the iPhone 17 became the absolute best-seller in Russia, both in total units sold and revenue generated, during the first half of 2026.
The second spot went to its pricier sibling, the iPhone 17 Pro (256 GB), while the older iPhone 15 (128 GB) comfortably secured third place.
It seems the shadow-import machinery is working flawlessly, as even the premium iPhone 17 Pro Max models easily squeezed into the top five. Local telecom boss Nikita Tolpygin tried to spin this as a beautiful sign of high trust in the Apple ecosystem, politely ignoring the fact that buying these gray-market luxury items now requires a small mortgage.
In total, the market saw 12 million smartphones sold for over 260 billion rubles during this six-month period. Although overall sales dropped by 7.8% in volume and 5.9% in revenue compared to last year, the average smartphone price actually ticked up by 2% to 21,957 rubles.
While budget-conscious buyers kept cheap Chinese brands like Redmi, realme, TECNO, and HONOR at the top of the volume charts alongside Samsung, Apple easily pocketed the lion's share of the actual money.
Nothing highlights the sweet irony of modern geopolitics quite like a population passionately cheering for domestic isolation while aggressively swiping their credit cards for the latest American-designed luxury. Apparently, some values are just too hard to import-substitute.
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