A new wave of depreciation of the ruble led to an increase in prices for household appliances and electronics. Depending on the type of device, prices have risen in the range of 4 to 10%. In addition to the ruble exchange rate, limited supply and shortages in some categories of goods put pressure on prices, market participants interviewed by Kommersant say.
The rise in prices affects any equipment with imported components – or if it is, in principle, imported from abroad. For example, the Chinese equipment Hisense has officially increased in price by 8% since April 12, as the company officially announced. The Gorenje brand, which is part of it, notified counterparties that the prices for the equipment of the line will increase by 5%. The companies attribute the need to raise prices to "a significant increase in the cost of raw materials." Chinese Midea (brands Midea, Toshiba and Comfee) is taking similar measures.
Oleksiy Pogudalov, commercial director of Holodilnik.ru, said he was familiar with letters from Chinese companies, and noted that he received similar notifications about a year ago against the backdrop of a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. He explains that the real reason for the rise in prices is the collapse of the ruble: all transactions with suppliers and counterparties are still concluded in "hard currency" – dollars and euros, so the rise in prices cannot be avoided. According to his estimates, selling prices for goods will rise within the same limits as purchase prices, that is, within 10%. Representatives of the F + tech-Marvel Group of Companies note that since the beginning of the year, prices have already grown by 10%, and the main reason is the collapse of the ruble.
“Now this is the only factor that affects the market, there have been no logistical and regulatory changes,” says a representative of F + tech-Marvel, noting that stores with large stocks of goods in warehouses can afford to keep prices down for some time.
True, the price increase “within 10%” declared by market representatives is not found in popular networks – it is much higher, the newspaper notes. For example, the Samsung TV in the M.Video network increased in price from 64.9 thousand rubles and a discount of 5 thousand rubles to 74.9 thousand, the Realme TV from 23.9 thousand rubles to 26.9 thousand, and the Gorenje refrigerator — from 41.9 thousand to 53.9 thousand. The company explained to the publication that this is “not a price increase, but the completion of promotions.”
Anton Guskov, representative of the association of trading companies and manufacturers of electrical household and computer equipment RATEK (includes the M.Video-Eldorado, DNS, Samsung, etc. groups of companies), notes that further price prospects will directly depend on the dynamics of the ruble exchange rate. If the foreign currency continues to rise, then consumers should expect further price increases, a decline can only be expected if the Russian currency strengthens for a long time.
The Russian ruble experienced another wave of decline, which lasted about three months. If in mid-January the US dollar could be bought for 67-68 rubles, then at the moment the exchange rate exceeds 81 rubles. The Russian currency sank by 20%. Other currencies also showed dynamics: the euro rose from 73 rubles to 90, and the Chinese yuan – from 9.9 rubles to 11.8.