Russian law requires new devices to be pre-installed with Russian software

Russia recently passed a decree requiring electronic products including mobile phones, tablets, computers, smart TV boxes, etc. to be pre-installed with applications developed by the country’s developers in order to obtain a sales license, which naturally includes iPhone, iPad, etc. Proponents of the decree believe that this can promote the development of domestic developers, but there are also concerns that this will lead to privacy leaks and may cause some manufacturers to withdraw from the Russian market.

Unlike the EU ’s sanctions against Google some time ago, the European Union required Google not to pre-installed too many of their apps in the Android system, and also informed users that there were other alternative apps to download. However, this Russian decree does not restrict equipment manufacturers from installing their own applications but requires that applications developed by Russian developers must be installed. Currently, no specific application types and equipment have been announced, but the decree has been finalized in 2020. The official effective date of July.

At present, in the Russian mobile phone market, Samsung holds the first share with 22.04%, while Huawei and Apple rank second and third with 15.99% and 15.83%, respectively.