The Russian brand of smartphones and push-button phones of the Chinese assembly Inoi left Russia – now it calls itself Estonian. This was reported by the Kommersant newspaper with reference to sources. This is the first time that a domestic phone brand has left the country.
It happened, according to the publication, about a month ago. A representative of the brand said that the company "does not comment in the Russian Federation, since it is Estonian."
In Russia, the company was engaged in the supply of budget phones. Inoi was the first smartphone that tried to support the domestic Aurora operating system, but then the brand switched to Android. At the same time, the company's share in smartphone sales is less than 1%, Kommersant's interlocutors say. This share is minimal, so the departure of Inoi from Russia will not affect the market in any way, they note. The probable reason is an attempt to distance themselves from the war in Ukraine, "to avoid problems with foreign partners and supplies."
On the Inoi website, the regions Russia and Belarus have disappeared, instead the flag of the CIS is used. The Russian flag appears to have gone missing between March and September. Smartphones are still on sale in Eldorado, Citylink and Beeline stores, where Kommersant's questions were not answered.
The brand belongs to the former co-owner of the IT distributor VVP Group Sergey Fomin. VVP Group is the official supplier.