Apple Temporarily Halts Online Sales in Russia Due to 'Extremely Sharp' Ruble Fluctuations

[MacRumors]

Apple has temporarily halted online sales in Russia due to fluctuations in the value of the ruble, reports Bloomberg. The online store will be down until Apple is able to revise its prices in the country.

"Our online store in Russia is currently unavailable while we review pricing," Alan Hely, a spokesman for the Cupertino, California-based company, said today in an e-mailed statement. "We apologize to customers for any inconvenience."

Similarly, an Apple spokesperson told Russian site Lenta.ru that the store was offline due to "extremely sharp" fluctuations of the Russian ruble.

As of right now, the Apple Online store for Russia is down, displaying Apple's typical "We'll be back" message that is offered when a store is taken offline. It is not clear how long it will take to make the pricing adjustments.

Due to the weak Russian ruble, the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus in Russia were priced much lower than in other European countries. Ahead of the store closure, the 16GB iPhone 6 was priced at 39990 rubles, equivalent to EUR447 or $558. The 16GB iPhone 6 Plus was priced at 46990 rubles, or EUR550/$681. In many other European countries, the 16GB iPhone 6 and 6 Plus are priced closer to EUR700 ($876) and EUR800 ($999), respectively.

This is the second time in recent weeks that Apple has had to adjust pricing in Russia. Last month, Apple increased the price of the iPhone 6 by 25 percent in the country. The ruble fell as much as 19 percent today to exceed 80 per dollar before rebounding somewhat. The ruble is down roughly 50 percent against the dollar this year.

Article Link: Apple Temporarily Halts Online Sales in Russia Due to 'Extremely Sharp' Ruble Fluctuations

 

[happydude]

And Putin officially lost the support of Russian hipsters.

 

[2457282]

And Putin officially lost the support of Russian hipsters.

I think he lost that when he jailed the ***** riots. Still, I hope the crash of the rubble helps to wake him up to the reality that this aint the cold war and that he cannot bully us around anymore.

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I think he lost that when he jailed the ***** riots. Still, I hope the crash of the rubble helps to wake him up to the reality that this aint the cold war and that he cannot bully us around anymore.

MacRumors censored the name of a russian all female band. LOL

 

[bradl]

I guess I'll be the first here to make the request that this gets moved to PRSI, because this is easily going to go down the road of Putin/Russia vs. the Western World, and the economics of that.

In short, this thread is going to go downhill.

BL.

 

[PowerBook-G5]

Perhaps they also faced some problems with Cook's revelation and Putin's agenda.

I also thought that I read somewhere that Apple wasn't going to be able to sell products in Russia after 2015 if they don't have a data center there or something.

 

[byke]

Ironic that the phoned was pulled by Apple and not banned because Tim Cook was openly homosexual. Even though old Vlad is meant to be a die hard Abba Fan.

 

[poppy10]

This won't just be Apple, many other international retailers will follow suit. The currency has crashed hard, it rarely happens to such a big economy. We might gloat but if Russia goes through another devaluation like in the 90s it could tip the whole world back into recession

But in better news, hey, the Apple store gif is mesmerising. Can you name all 18 languages?

 

[Glassed Silver]

How quick they react to weak currencies compared to the dollar, but when a currency gets stronger I doubt they feel the need to rush anything.

Glassed Silver:mac

 

[Rocketman]

In other real news, people rushed the stores to buy all available devices with crashed currency at slow to change prices. Can you say 60% off? Russians are not stupid, only the management is.

 

[DeepIn2U]

And Putin officially lost the support of Russian hipsters.

What?

According to Bloomberg tradition Russian shoppers left the country to Finland and abroad for better pricing on iOS devices ... how their shopping within borders and even selling externally making dollars.

Nov 11th
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-...russia-tempting-tourists-as-ruble-slides.html

 

[SockRolid]

... iPhone 6 was priced at 39990 rubles ...

40K rubles today.
125 million rubles tomorrow?

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We might gloat but if Russia goes through another devaluation like in the 90s it could tip the whole world back into recession

But first, all those billionaire (in USD even) Russian gangsters are about to become a whole lot poorer.
Unless they've already laundered their rubles into stronger currencies or assets.

 

[macs4nw]

And Putin officially lost the support of Russian hipsters.

Obviously meant as a quick quip, but in reality the ruthless Russian leader does not care one iota about the hipsters' support. He'll crush them with tanks, if need be.

 

[lk400]

How quick they react to weak currencies compared to the dollar, but when a currency gets stronger I doubt they feel the need to rush anything.

Glassed Silver:mac

Prices haven't been adjusted in Japan recently for the ever weakening yen. The reason they are doing this quickly in Russia is because of the scale of fluctuations.

And thanks for your guess at what apple would do in the reverse. In fact, what large companies want is stability and what they don't want is risk. Unless Apple has started a side line of taking positions on foreign exchange movements, you can expect that they would be moving just as fast if the currency fluctuated rapidly in the other direction. They would have much of their foreign currency transactions hedged anyway.

 

[NY Guitarist]

Wow... this is a bit unnerving. Russia is spiraling out of control.

Hard to imagine that one of the world's largest corporations has to stop selling product in one of the world's largest economy, solely because the currency is so unstable.

I wonder if the recent OPEC decision to maintain oil output was intended to undermine Russia's oil industry and economy in order to bring Putin back in line.

 

[Stephroll]

You take Steve Jobs statue down , we crush your economy

- Apple

 

[gnasher729]

In other real news, people rushed the stores to buy all available devices with crashed currency at slow to change prices. Can you say 60% off? Russians are not stupid, only the management is.

It's not "60% off" for Russians.

Say the price was X rubles, and Apple exchanged that into $600 and thought that was a fair price. And today X rubles are only $500 and Apple doesn't want to sell for that price. For the Russian customer it's still the same X rubles. The same percentage of their salary, the same whole in the pocket.

 

[Mactendo]

Still, I hope the crash of the rubble helps to wake him up to the reality that this aint the cold war and that he cannot bully us around anymore.

Yep, that's the holy privilege of US govt.

 

[Gasu E.]

It's not "60% off" for Russians.

Say the price was X rubles, and Apple exchanged that into $600 and thought that was a fair price. And today X rubles are only $500 and Apple doesn't want to sell for that price. For the Russian customer it's still the same X rubles. The same percentage of their salary, the same whole in the pocket.

iPhones are now a store of value.

 

[Mactendo]

Obviously meant as a quick quip, but in reality the ruthless Russian leader does not care one iota about the hipsters' support. He'll crush them with tanks, if need be.

Yeah, hate, blood, terror, tanks, drunk bears with balalaikas...

 

[Technarchy]

Hey, Putin...

...how's that Ukraine invasion working out for you?

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

In other real news, people rushed the stores to buy all available devices with crashed currency at slow to change prices. Can you say 60% off? Russians are not stupid, only the management is.

Only if you can then make a profit selling it for USD or some (any) other currency.

Bit Coin is stabler than the Ruble right now.

 

[unplugme71]

Wow... this is a bit unnerving. Russia is spiraling out of control.

Hard to imagine that one of the world's largest corporations has to stop selling product in one of the world's largest economy, solely because the currency is so unstable.

I wonder if the recent OPEC decision to maintain oil output was intended to undermine Russia's oil industry and economy in order to bring Putin back in line.

Most likely has a part of it

 

[Analog Kid]

In other real news, people rushed the stores to buy all available devices with crashed currency at slow to change prices. Can you say 60% off? Russians are not stupid, only the management is.

Exactly, and this isn't their first currency rodeo...

It's not "60% off" for Russians.

Say the price was X rubles, and Apple exchanged that into $600 and thought that was a fair price. And today X rubles are only $500 and Apple doesn't want to sell for that price. For the Russian customer it's still the same X rubles. The same percentage of their salary, the same whole in the pocket.

The logic is sound, except many if not most Russians keep their savings in dollars or euros. There's private currency exchanges at every corner, and another mid-block. If you see a news story with exchange rates in red LED numbers, that's the sign in front of one of the currency exchanges.

But first, all those billionaire (in USD even) Russian gangsters are about to become a whole lot poorer.
Unless they've already laundered their rubles into stronger currencies or assets.

No, that's part of what set off the event. The Russian Central Bank decided to accept Rosneft (oil company) bonds as collateral for loans. The central bank basically printed $625 billion rubles in a day to prevent the gangsters from getting poorer-- at the expense of everyone else.

Bit Coin is stabler than the Ruble right now.

Ironically, it's not. Bitcoin seems to be one of the few currencies underperforming the ruble this year. The ruble is down about 52% at the time of writing, and bitcoin is down about 55%. Go back another month or two though and the ruble would look like a paragon of stability against bitcoin.

 

[iPhysicist]

Ah good to see Apple cares! They adjust their prices and the wages and salaries of the Russian people all at once. Nice one Apple. I've got to adjust to that Russian keyboard but this CCCPRBMP is a bargain...

 

[MH01]

This is total BS from apple. I remember when the pound hit an all time high against the dollar and apple were profiteering from it for a long time. swings the other way and they stop sales, if you do not live in the US the customer is the looser.

Really a silly move. Shows how much they are about the profit!!

Since its about childish games, Putin should kick them out.

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Hey, Putin...

...how's that Ukraine invasion working out for you?

Id say its going better than iraq. These military actions around the world are like dumb and dumber......