Customs delay xiaomi phones. There are no irreplaceable! What to buy instead of Xiaomi smartphones that customs does not allow

Russian customs began to stop the smartphones of the Chinese company at the border, bought not from the official supplier.

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Reuters photo

At the end of April, Russian media reported that customs in Moscow, Orenburg and Yekaterinburg began to "wrap" parcels with Xiaomi smartphones. Representatives of the Federal Customs Service inspect the parcels and, if they contain "counterfeit products", return them to the place of departure.

What's happening

On April 23, residents of the Orenburg region, a community on VKontakte. In it, they said that the local customs unpacks parcels with Xiaomi smartphones, citing the fact that they were bought on the “gray” market.

The creators of the community made an announcement on the official website of the Volga Customs Administration, which states that Xiaomi devices were returned to senders on the basis of Article 313 of the Customs Code of the Customs Union and Article 18 of the Universal Postal Convention, which prohibit the import of counterfeit products.

Since March of this year, the Orenburg customs, based on the results of customs control, has returned to senders more than 500 international postal items (IGOs) with electronic devices marked with the Xiaomi trademark.

As an iGuides publication, in addition to Xiaomi, Sony, BlackBerry and Chuwi devices may not pass through the border.

Information about the new requirements of customs officers was confirmed by tech blogger Eldar Murtazin on his Twitter. He advised buyers to "play it safe" and not buy the devices now. And those who have already placed an order - to sue.

Xiaomi position

Back in March 2017, Xiaomi, which will fight hard against the "gray" supply of devices. The official partner of the Chinese company in Russia is RDC Group, the official distributor is Smart Orange.

In fact, only the latter has the right to trade Xiaomi smartphones and transport them across the border. The rest of the companies must coordinate the delivery of goods with it, and if the distributor discovers counterfeit goods, he will be able to return it to the sender through the court.

April 25 in Moscow, the first official presentation of Xiaomi in Russia. The company is entering the Russian market and, according to the senior vice president, intends to "deal with counterfeit goods."

Wang Xiang, Senior Vice President of Xiaomi

Xiaomi presentation in Moscow

Representatives of Xiaomi in the community on VKontakte that the company has banned the transportation of "counterfeit and pirated items" not from the official distributor.

They are based on the provisions of Articles 1515 and 1252 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, which govern the protection of the exclusive rights of Xiaomi, in particular, the brand and trademark and responsibility for their illegal use.

Thus, a product imported without the consent of the copyright holder, whose interests in the territory of the Russian Federation is represented by Smart Orange LLC, is counterfeit, since it violates the exclusive rights to the trademark of the copyright holder.

The company understands how much this complicates the purchase process, so they announced their readiness to provide affected customers with exclusive access to the official store and discounts on Xiaomi products.

How legal is it

On April 26, the Federal Customs Service will fight against counterfeit and fake goods in parcels. True, then it was only about child seats. Customs representatives said they intend to check not only goods arriving by transport, but also arriving at postal items.

Customs officers have established effective contact with their Chinese counterparts, which allows them to work together to combat the flow of illegal goods.

Sergey Shklyaev, Head of Trade Restrictions Department of the Federal Customs Service

The FCS has the right to independently verify the authenticity of the goods. To do this, she must conduct an examination, but even if the smartphone is recognized as "gray", she will not be able to return it to the sender without a court decision.

This is stated in the joint plenums of the Supreme Court and the Supreme Arbitration Court.

A material carrier can be recognized as counterfeit only by a court. If necessary, the court has the right to appoint an examination to clarify issues that require special knowledge.

Joint decision of the plenums of the Supreme Court and the Supreme Arbitration Court

However, the Volga customs in its message clarified that it stops the goods not because they are “non-original”, but on the basis of the violation of the exclusive right of the copyright holder.

In this case, the recognition of the goods as counterfeit or real is handled by the copyright holder of the Beijing Xiaomi Technology brand in Russia - Smart Orange. The distributor informed the customs that the goods with the Xiaomi marker delivered to the post offices were found to be counterfeit.

The copyright holder said that the import of these original goods violates his exclusive rights, as a result of which he objects to the import of these goods into the territory of Russia.

Volga Customs Administration

But, as in its decision, the plenum of the Supreme Court, the expert and other competent persons have the right to establish only signs of counterfeiting. The legal assessment of these features is given by the court.

Russian customs began to detain small packages with equipment manufactured by Sony and Xiaomi and send them back abroad. It is known that shipments with electronics are massively opened and inspected at customs in Vnukovo, as well as in Orenburg and Yekaterinburg. There are also reports of returns from BlackBerry, Chuwi and some other companies.

The leading analyst of Mobile Research Group announced the new rules of the FCS. He advises those affected by the actions of customs to sue, because, according to him, the agency violates the "rules of mailing private individuals." True, it is not clear why they are suing, because foreign sellers return money to buyers if the goods have not reached them.

The Federal Customs Service can ensure that counterfeit products are not imported into Russia. In the case of smartphones, you can check the originality of the product by the EMEI number on the manufacturer's website.

With Xiaomi smartphones, everything is more or less clear. Smart Orange, one of the official distributors of Xiaomi products in Russia, the status of the representative of the Beijing Xiaomi Technology brand. This allowed her to start the fight against the gray supply of smartphones. Each commercial batch of Xiaomi devices must be approved by Smart Orange, and if customs reveals an unapproved import of goods, the company can seek its return to a foreign supplier through the courts.

Apparently, Smart Orange found out that a lot of Xiaomi smartphones are privately imported into Russia, which is not surprising, because in China, even taking into account the cost of postal delivery, they cost about half as much as in Russia. The point is not the greed of Russian resellers, but the fact that in Asian countries Xiaomi can earn money on its services, but they are not adapted for Russia.

Sony, apparently, also believes that the private import of its products in Russia has a negative impact on financial performance.

BlackBerry smartphones and Chuwi tablets are not officially sold in Russia, and therefore, they do not have notifications allowing their use in our country. Moreover, buyers of such devices face a fine. In April, a resident of Surgut was charged with an administrative offense under Art. 16.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of Russia for ordering a Sony PlayStation 4 Slim game console in Germany. It refers to cryptographic (encryption) means and it is prohibited to import it into the country without issuing special documents.

Buying smartphones, tablets, game consoles and other equipment not represented in Russia has always been dangerous because of the likelihood of running into a fine. Now these risks have been supplemented by purchases of products of brands operating in Russia. If you still decide to purchase a Xiaomi smartphone via the Internet, it is better to look for devices that are already in Russia, since customs does not check them. For example, Xiaomi has an online store on AliExpress - all the goods presented in it are already in our country and cost about half as much as those of resellers.

Recently, we talked about how Smart Orange LLC, which officially supplies Xiaomi smartphones to Russia, influenced the actions of Russian customs, as a result of which the latter began not to allow gadgets of this kind bought in Chinese online stores (for example, AliExpress) to pass at the border manufacturer for personal use:

Of course, we began to find the necessary loopholes in the laws for this pressure on human rights, but this does not change the essence.

At the moment, the Federal Customs Service of the Russian Federation has already “wrapped up” about 1000 smartphones at the border, calling them counterfeit at the behest of Smart Orange (although they were not bought from “gray” sellers in Russia and not for resale), or encryption means not allowed by us. (Interestingly, if I bought a smartphone abroad on vacation, would they not let me on a plane with it?)

In response to lawlessness - a petition

Not wanting to endure such arbitrariness of our customs, the Russians created a petition against the ban on bringing Xiaomi devices into Russia. Of course, for personal purposes, and not "gray" resale. There she is, sign:

The petition has been sent to the Federal Customs Service of the Russian Federation and the leadership of Xiaomi in China (Beijing Xiaomi Technology Co., Ltd). We are also invited to boycott Xiaomi gadgets officially sold in Russia at shamelessly inflated prices. However, due to problems with customs, prices for “gray” deliveries of devices from this brand began to rise.

To date, the petition has already been signed by 12,387 people.

Result?

Only the blind still do not see that in Russia now only money and power rule. If the powers that be are not in the hands of some laws, they are increasingly ignored or changed with impunity. Therefore, whether there will be any sense from the petition - think for yourself. The FCS is not obliged to consider such appeals from third-party resources; in legal terms, the law does not require this from government agencies.

Push

I see two conflicting points here:

1. The prices for Xiaomi devices, which are 2 times inflated by Smart Orange LLC, are really a reason for a boycott (and for the attention of the Federal Antimonopoly Service, perhaps). Everything has a limit.

2. Another thing, all sorts of Chinese stores - AliExpress and the like. It turns out an interesting picture. In our country, state regulators are so revealingly fighting "gray" imports, supposedly so that part of the funds from officially imported and certified devices go to the Russian treasury in the form of taxes and other fees. However, at the same time, our authorities are not at all against the fact that billions and billions of rubles constantly flow away from us straight to China, enriching their economy at our expense. Stunning situation! We have only bans, fines, inspections and pressure on business, while the Chinese have a really wide tunnel to Russia. Withdraw money there through "Ali" without any "impossible" there! At the same time, our friends, relatives or acquaintances, who open offline or online stores here, then “sit” penniless and watch how their customers pay the Chinese. And try to touch this "Ali"! International relations with China will be threatened. But we can’t even buy goods for sale in China without having a contract with a factory, a foreign currency account, customs clearance at a wild cost and obtaining all sorts of “certificates”, which a small business simply cannot afford to do. And with these requirements, how can you still make affordable prices in Russia? Prices will be wild, but no margin. Why, one wonders, do they crush their own compatriots in our country and let citizens of another country live at their expense? Sad and hopeless.

The environment shapes consciousness, and in Moscow this definition of historical materialism becomes literally visible. We are in the next stage of urban improvement, in which it is necessary to dig up the main streets, narrow the roads and create a million traffic jams. Someone is ready to endure this, someone is throwing thunder and lightning, wants 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 life begins to transform. It usually takes ten minutes to drive along the Garden Ring from Krasnoproletarskaya Street to Smolensky Passage on a weekday, given 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 remained in reserve. Given the density of meetings, I understood that I would not have time to get to the restaurant, order food and still eat what was ordered. Therefore, I asked my friend to take a picture of the menu and send it to me so that he can order. By the time I got there, the food was ready and we were able to start eating immediately. I told this to 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 in restaurants remotely and indicate when they will be approximately. Such a 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 you can leave such guaranteed orders, and the restaurants themselves will immediately write off money from the linked bank card, and there will be no risk for them that you will not arrive and pay your order. A new approach is being formed, which is dictated by changes in the traffic situation. And if you look around, there are many such examples of changes in our way of life, some are noticeable, some are still hidden from our eyes. I would be glad if you bring your experience in the comments, what did you encounter.

And 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 - we understand the reasons

When you have the “best” smartphone in the world, you need to buy it also at the best price, preferably in China. The stratum of those who buy smartphones from Xiaomi and other similar brands in Russia, ordering them by mail, is quite large. This is about 20-30 thousand people every month, plus those who make their own small business on this, buy smartphones for resale, in total there will be about 65-70 thousand Chinese smartphones in parcels monthly. With an average price of $ 200 for such a smartphone, 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 goods are on the shelves of local stores and the manufacturer or his representative is obliged to comply with the guarantee, pay VAT and cover other expenses. Economically, it is impossible to achieve the same price in China and Russia due to the different market structure, and the fact that goods, despite the same name and index, often differ in “little things”, production costs. For the Chinese domestic market, many goods receive completely different qualities, this applies to both components and assembly lines. On the level of common sense, we are accustomed to believing that they make goods for themselves better, in China, as a rule, everything is topsy-turvy, where goods for the local market are worse in quality than what is exported. Approximately the same story was in the USSR.

So, here's the plot of the story, our reader sent me the following tweet:

For ordinary buyers, buying phones in foreign stores has 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 cryptoprotection. 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 probability 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 postal points does not have the ability to open all items, the check is carried out selectively. This is not even every tenth parcel, their number is much less. In large sorting centers, X-ray machines have appeared that can show the contents of the package, so today no one tries to send a phone under the guise of books, these days have gone forever. The actual postage is indicated.

But those who want to get a phone that does not have a notification, as a rule, agree with the sender to indicate the model that has this notification. Thus, these obstacles are bypassed. Very often, when buying the same LeEco, people indicate Russian model names, although inside there can be anything from LeEco. And then it all depends on whether there will be a random check on your parcel, how attentive the customs officer will be. As a rule, such parcels pass quietly.

Now the second situation, about which they wrote to me, sending back a “counterfeit” product. Let's analyze it using the example of Xiaomi, which became a pioneer in the fight against its own product, which it even managed to call counterfeit. So, in Russia, not so long ago, an official distributor of Xiaomi, the company RDC Group, appeared. The subsidiary Smart Orange is responsible for sales, marketing and operation of the Xiaomi brand in Russia, all relevant rights are obtained from the parent company, the Chinese company that owns the brand.

The problem for the 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 the one that is delivery from China. And the difference between the Russian and Chinese prices can be an average of 30%, as 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, each person wants to get a favorable price for the goods, and all related issues are of little concern to him. As well as the quality of the goods, he considers the same, and attempts to explain that this is not so, he does not care. I especially like how people deliberately go for flashing devices at home, spend quite a lot of time on it, but feel that they have benefited. In order to decide on such experiments, it is necessary that the hands grow from the right place, or the desire to save money should outweigh everything.

The example of the same Meizu shows that properly selected sales channels in Russia can work safely 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 are officially imported. The difference in price between them is noticeable, but gray ones are sold much less, this market has not become massive, while the brand's distributor develops the business and makes it noticeably larger.

From the RDC Group, I personally expected exactly the same approach, but the company apparently considered that parcels with Xiaomi smartphones threatened sales in Russia, so they decided to limit them. For this, the company has legal grounds, since the Chinese Xiaomi granted all rights to the brand to its partner and wrote the 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 not worried about individuals, but those who put this business on stream, wholesalers. But private individuals fell under the distribution by accident, however, they were also subject to restrictions. Now all individuals or companies that import Xiaomi smartphones and other devices to 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 searched for a provision that allegedly exempts private parcels from these restrictions, but, unfortunately, this is not the case. Here is the lawyer's comment:

By virtue of par. 2 p. 1 art. 313 of the Customs Code of the Customs Union, it is not allowed to send goods in international postal items that are prohibited for shipment in accordance with the acts of the Universal Postal Union. In turn, the Universal Postal Convention (adopted in Doha on October 11, 2012) in clause 2.1.3 prohibits the shipment of counterfeit and pirated items.

Signs of counterfeit 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 of 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, is not a violation of the exclusive right to a trademark, the use of this trademark by other persons in relation to goods that are put into civil circulation on the territory of the Russian Federation directly by the copyright holder or with his consent. Thus, the goods imported without the consent of the right 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 right holder.

In this case, the above rules of law apply, and not paragraphs. 1 p. 2 art. 328 of the Labor Code of the Customs Union, because by virtue of paragraph 4 of Art. 15 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the universally recognized principles and norms of international law have the highest legal force in relation to internal legal norms.

The prohibition of such a method of using a trademark as the import of goods marked with a Trademark into the territory of the Russian Federation is aimed at complying 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 pp. "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 precisely by this interpretation, unofficially I was told by a customs representative that at the moment there were restrictions only at a number of customs points, but they will apply to a larger number of points and will gradually work everywhere. Until such time as individual individuals have gone through legal battles and can prove that such actions are illegal, no changes will be made. Winning a lawsuit against the FCS is quite difficult, plus it will take years, that is, by that time the whole point of this undertaking will be gone, since new restrictions on cross-border sales will already be in effect.

I did not manage to get official comments on the situation in Smart Orange, the topic is too delicate. However, I met with one of the employees of the company and, on condition of anonymity, he was able to tell the following:

Restrictions on individuals were a consequence of the fight against wholesalers, but not an end in itself;
As soon as these restrictions arose, the company considered that this was an interesting approach, and they plan to increase pressure on this market segment, they do not plan to make concessions.

The circumstances are such that people who buy and buy Xiaomi equipment in China are almost guaranteed to encounter problems when it is delivered to Russia by mail. While there is a gap when not all customs offices wrap up such shipments and there are a sufficient number of “lucky ones”, but their number will decrease more and more every day. The only way to lift the ban would be to withdraw the letter from Smart Orange, but that would open the door to wholesale deliveries, which automatically means that this is not possible.

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 the purchase of Xiaomi equipment turns into a kind of lottery, and the only guaranteed way is to buy it domestically. For example, Meizu is not going to follow a similar path, 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 will only mention Sony, a source in customs said that it had prepared a similar appeal for a number of goods and the restrictions would be similar to those introduced against 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 indicate “smartphone” on the box, without the name of the manufacturer. This is an almost guaranteed check of the package, and then your “smartphone” will go back in the same way. It is also not worth inventing names, since there is no notification for fictional phones, and they will also be wrapped back.

Buying abroad has always been a kind of lottery, it's just that now the chances for the buyer have worsened, it's worth taking into account. If Xiaomi’s example proves to be effective, and the outrage on social networks quickly falls silent, as it usually happens, then other manufacturers may learn from this experience and begin to do the same. So you can consider this story as the first sign. It depends on the reaction of people and its strength whether such a business approach will continue.

The first quarter in the smartphone market - version from IDC

Arrived in time the data on who was well done in the first quarter of 2017 in the smartphone market, from IDC. 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. We look at the table.

The first thing you notice is that the sales of both Samsung and Apple are stable, both companies look stable in terms of sales, they have reached the saturation point. To grow in sales, they need to make major changes to their product line, as well as how they position and promote their products. Both companies are experiencing the same difficulties, in particular, the flagships of both Apple and Samsung faced a drop in demand in China, the local market consumes local brands with great pleasure. Oddly enough, the reason for the drop in share in China is not that Chinese phones are cheaper, flagships from Vivo, 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 were built by Vivo / OPPO (BBK Corporation) in 2016. Moreover, BBK Corporation does not have an exact number either, since many stores open as franchisees and purchase goods from local players, a kind of hubs. According to conservative estimates, Vivo had about 200,000 stores in China, while OPPO lagged far behind and was able to cover most of the country with only 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 lineup, but they really compete with each other for the same stores and sellers. They do not come as a single offer, with a single control center represented by BBK Corporation. Marvelous? Not that word.

In the first quarter, there was a qualitative change for these two brands, it is associated with expansion to foreign markets in Asia, in particular, to India, it is not even worth mentioning other countries against the backdrop of India. Surprisingly, the same Vivo has fully 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 the countryside, and only then enter big cities. The result is already tangible, 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 they open stores in big, rich cities and only then go down. The problem for them is that in the face of BBK Corporation they have received their antagonist, a company that eats the market from the other end, while having a comparable lineup with the same Samsung in the budget and mid-range segments.

The expansion of these Chinese companies will not last forever, they have already faced the problem of growth. Without access to other foreign markets, such as 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 well-established scheme in countries where it is applicable and where the costs of opening retail outlets are covered by the sellers themselves. In the same Russia, such a scheme will not work, here a completely different approach is needed. Can they learn it quickly? Not sure. But the fact that in 2017 and the first half of 2018 BBK Corporation can still grow is beyond doubt. Together with OnePlus, the company already overtook Apple in the first quarter of 2017 in unit sales, becoming number two behind Samsung.

Interestingly, Huawei has 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 - maximize the number of retail outlets that sell your product. Against this background, Lenovo looks amazing, which was born thanks to this understanding, but in the process of transformation it forgot about it and became more European than Chinese. For which she was punished by the local market.

The last thing you should pay attention to is the sales of smartphones in the “Other” category. We do not see growth in this category, which perfectly characterizes the position of many B/C brands. They are having a difficult time as the market is very saturated. In foreign markets, Chinese brands also do not feel the best way, they are in a fever. On the example of Russia, this can be seen 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 markedly. The best illustration of this would be Samsung's quarterly report, in which record sales were driven by the components division and not mobile devices at all. Samsung's quarterly revenue was $44.6 billion and operating income was $8.75 billion. Phone sales fell nearly 50% yoy, partly due to Note 7 write-offs. However, it was the components that made the quarter a record. But in the second quarter, the appearance of the Galaxy S8 / S8 + in the reporting will make this record a thing of the past, profits will rise markedly. The whole of 2017 promises to be successful for Samsung, and individual problems, for example, with TVs and their sales compared to LG's OLED TVs, will not be particularly noticeable. In the same LG, the first quarter is also successful, but the reason is exclusively in TVs, while the mobile division has been unprofitable for two years.

I'm wondering how in the same LG / Samsung 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 generated.

Summing up the words about the market, I want 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 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 claims that all these new technologies are of no use to anyone, they do not work, and everything around 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 kind of 3G speeds. And most importantly, we do not need to show these speeds, we will never see them in practice. There are many such people, and every time they come up in discussions when there is a story about new technologies. We even have a whole country nearby, in which most of the progressive population quite seriously argued that 3G is not needed, and Wi-Fi is enough for everyday life. That's how they lived, surviving from EDGE to Wi-Fi.

After the launch of 3G, and then the emergence and development of 4G, the deployment of LTE Advanced in Russia 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 some individual records, nobody needs them. We are talking about the ongoing evolution of communication networks, and this is a very important moment 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, which works without any complaints, and is completely ideal for data transfer. I can be called a “heavy” subscriber, because in a week I get 20-30 GB of data through my phone, for the most part these are work files. And for me, the speed of access to the network, its reliability is critical. It is difficult to sit and download a large file with ftp for hours, as it was the other day in Vienna, where I encountered local network restrictions, after the first gigabyte they simply cut the speed, although there were no restrictions in the package, the reason was the local load on the base station .

After switching to S8 +, it seemed to me that the files are loaded faster, there was such a subjective impression. I attributed this to the perception of the new apparatus, and not to reality. Moreover, having run Speedtest a couple of times, I did not get anything extraordinary, ordinary numbers, quite comparable with S7 EDGE. In one of the conversations with the operator's engineer, he 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 speed of uploading or downloading, and in this software the file is small, and you just won’t notice anything.” I was advised to install the free utility “Connection Speed”, as it demonstrates the real speed at the moment. And here a new marvelous world has opened up, the download speed has really increased, and this is clearly seen in this utility. I tried downloading files from an ftp server, I admit that when downloading from other servers, the speed will be higher, but there was no task to achieve maximum speed. In Moscow, MegaFon already has about a thousand stations updated and supports frequency aggregation, which is in S8 / S8 +. In theory, the speed limit for devices is 450 Mbps, in practice it is about 400 Mbps, and in my case, on my server, about 380 Mbps. Good? Undoubtedly.

We even recorded a short video about it, as it seemed interesting to me when, without much fanfare and some special messages on your network, it becomes possible to transfer files very quickly.

Moaning about the fact that these speeds are not needed, there is no way to use them, and further down the list, you can. But why? Progress cannot be stopped, and the evolution of networks is good and right. 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 you have enough of them in the form as they are today, for many, many years?

Vertu Constellation 2017 - first impressions

In June, the Vertu Constellation goes on sale, because of the sale of Vertu, the release was postponed from spring, and it falls on an unusual time. An overview of the device will appear in the coming days, but for now I will state a few impressions, however, we already had a first look at the model.

The price of this smartphone is from 301 thousand rubles in the basic version, that is, it is the most inexpensive Vertu of those that exist today, and this in absentia guarantees it the interest of the public. The first thing you pay attention to is the size, the phone turned out to be very massive and rather big - 161.5x77x10 mm, weight - 241 grams. It fits in a pocket, but it sticks out, you can’t call it thin, I even somehow lost the habit of such sizes.

Excellent skin, memorable appearance and, of course, the same call that you recognize from thousands. Perhaps that is why I always leave the bell on on Vertu, and do not switch to vibro. This sometimes creates funny situations, the other day this device rang in the subway, the whole car carefully looked at me and then the phone, which can play so loudly and melodiously. It is clear that this phone is not for the metro, but more and more often the owners of expensive cars lose the battle with Moscow traffic jams and go underground in a figurative sense. Although the well-known Moscow snobbery allows some people 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 simply began to live a quiet life in which there is no place for outright show off. Maybe it's age? Are there many young people around who have not passed this path? I don't know, but the feeling that all this is happening in different age groups, and this can only be welcomed.

You can scold Vertu for anything, but no one will deny that this device has its own unique look. I like Constellation for this, it is not to be confused with anyone on the market. The battery life is good, although I use it as a second phone for calls, to a lesser extent for everything else. During the work, we must thank the AMOLED screen, it is very, very good here.

Sound, screen, operating time and appearance are all pluses of the model. Minuses? He is exactly one - few people can afford to buy such a device. As a result, Vertu's discussions usually come down to a simple thing - who needs all this. The well-fed does not understand the hungry, and the opposite is also true.

I will not run ahead of the locomotive, I will write a review, and in it we will already discuss the technical characteristics, as well as the positioning of the device. It turned out to be good, but will the old Vertu audience return to such models? This question 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 great weather, a charge of vivacity for the rest of the week. Let not only the sun warm you, but also the mood inside.

All Xiaomi smartphones imported into Russia, so many buyers of mobile devices from this manufacturer have not been able to receive their packages. Chinese online stores and sellers understood this and returned money to buyers for undelivered goods. Even despite the fact that thousands of Russians have already filed complaints with several Russian authorities and the Xiaomi CEO in China, the likelihood of resolving this situation with customs peacefully is extremely small.

The editors of the site carefully analyzed the situation and found two really working solutions that will help buyers from Russia continue to get their hands on Xiaomi smartphones at very low prices. At the same time, the likelihood of any problems with the customs service of the Russian Federation is negligible. If everything is done correctly, then the parcel is guaranteed to be in the hands of the buyer, bypassing the traps set by Smart Orange, which asked not to let allegedly counterfeit Xiaomi smartphones into Russia, since it owns the rights to this trademark.

Negotiate with the seller or online store

Russian customs operates very simply. If the postal packaging contains words like “Xiaomi smartphone”, then such a postal item will not reach Russia. All Chinese online stores and individual sellers usually mention the name of the company, so the Russian customs are actually provided with all the data to complete their task.

Before buying a Xiaomi smartphone in China, you should contact the representatives of the online store or the seller in advance, asking them not to indicate the brand name of the smartphone, limiting themselves to the words “smartphone” or “Android mobile device”. In this case, the customs service will never be able to know for sure which smartphone from which manufacturer is inside. Of course, the package can be opened, but this almost never happens.

Compliance with this simple rule will allow you to continue ordering Xiaomi smartphones from China without overpaying double the price to the Russian representative of the company. At the same time, everything will be on completely legal grounds, since the essence of the parcel does not change from this. Customs officers will still understand that there is a mobile device inside, but which one, they will only have to guess.

Order Xiaomi smartphones from the Mall

As part of the integration into the Russian market, the largest Chinese online store AliExpress opened a so-called "Mall" a few months ago, in which Russian residents can order goods not from China, but directly from their country. Thus, postal items bypass customs checks, which means that you can buy Xiaomi smartphones in such a simple way.

Of course, goods from the Mall cost approximately 10-15% more than those delivered from China, but the confidence in receiving the package and the absence of headaches with customs are definitely worth it. We also note that all postal items moving only in Russia reach the recipients within two weeks, and this is another reason to buy a Xiaomi smartphone through the Aliexpress Mall.

Don't miss your chance! Until April 21, inclusive, everyone has a unique opportunity to Xiaomi Mi Band 3, spending only 2 minutes of their personal time on it.

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