Russian leader Vladimir Putin recently signed into law new legislation that will require smart phones, tablets, and smart TVs to come preloaded with a government-determined set of Russian apps and software. This decision has raised a number of concerns about the Apple ecosystem to such an extent that insiders have expressed concerns that this could force Apple completely out of the Russian market. As reported in MacRumors, the insider specifically noted that forcing Apple to bundle third-party apps would be tantamount to "jailbreaking" – a process that could severely threaten the security of a device and leave it exposed to hackers.
Today, Apple devices that ship around the world are largely identical to each other – meaning that a device purchased in Hong Kong is likely to be identical to one purchased in Toronto. There have been exceptions to this in the past, however, such as Apple devices intended for the China market suspiciously and silently lacking certain features such as FaceTime audio. However, what has never been seen before is bundled third-party apps that must be included in all devices to be sold in any given region or country.
While the Russian government has yet to release its list of required apps, tensions are mounting and there are concerns that the required apps could be utilized as a form of controlling Internet freedoms, or at worst, be used to spy on and report user activities back to a centralized location.
A Russia Without Apple?
While Apple devices may not be the most popular worldwide (Android devices hold that title), the devices are still ubiquitous and are a major part of many people's daily lives. If Apple is somehow unable or unwilling to comply with the legislation and the rules remains unchanged, then the only way to get Apple devices in Russia would be through a gray market. That means someone goes to a neighboring country, buys a bunch of iPhones, and brings them back to sell for a profit. This would result in prices skyrocketing but with no additional benefits to the end-user to justify the higher price. What's worse, it could be possible that the Russian government could declare this type of gray market activity to be out right illegal which would create even more problems.
If Apple loses Russia as a market, it will undoubtedly suffer financially as the company has invested significantly in expanding its reach in the country with local Apple stores and localized marketing and advertising efforts. But at this point, it's too early to tell exactly what will happen, and just because one insider suggests that the company may refuse doesn't necessarily mean that they won't eventually bow down. Apple has previously kowtowed to various government demands that are not in line with typical Western values, such as demands for censoring politically sensitive apps and keeping news sites out of reach of users by blocking the Apple news app in certain countries. As for Apple's future in Russia, it all depends on where this law goes and how far Apple is willing to bend to keep their Russian Apple stores open.
Source: MacRumors