Flexible approach: iPhone Duo spurred demand for folding smartphones in Russia
After the release of the iPhone Duo, demand for folding smartphones increased in Russia. Amid the news about Apple's new product, customers have become more interested in flexible gadgets. In September-October, demand for them increased by 15-20%, retailers said. Since the Duo remains prohibitively expensive for most buyers, and the device is subject to Apple's restrictions on functionality for Russians, users choose more affordable clamshells from other brands.
How much sales of clamshells have increased
Electronics vendors and experts told Izvestia about the growing demand for folding smartphones after the presentation of Apple's first clamshell in early September. In particular, such dynamics were recorded in M.Video: in the first week after the Duo's announcement, sales of its closest competitor, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8, increased by 33%.
Announcements of new devices in the category of flexible smartphones may encourage buyers to actively explore available models, compare their capabilities and choose a device for their needs, according to the company. They added that folding smartphones are showing positive dynamics against the background of a decline in the market as a whole. According to the retailer, in January – September 2026, about 96 thousand devices with flexible screens were sold in Russia for 9.78 billion rubles, which is 23.7% more in units and 20.4% more in money than a year earlier. The average price decreased by 2.7%, to 101.4 thousand rubles, which contributes to the expansion of the category's audience, M.Video added.
In the "Connection.ON" noted that the sales growth of folding smartphones in September-October compared to previous months could amount to 15-20% in units.
A particularly noticeable acceleration in sales occurred in the fall: in September and October, sales of folding smartphones from all manufacturers increased by 47%, while sales of Samsung devices jumped by 57% during this period, said Petr Lalazarov, director of Samsung VVP Group.
— The presentation of a new device by a major brand can draw attention to the entire folding format. Buyers are starting to actively compare offers, evaluate the convenience of the screen and the capabilities of smartphones in everyday use," said Nikita Tolpygin, head of the Telecom and Gadgets Department at M.Video.
In the third quarter of 2026 alone, over 40,000 devices were sold in Russia, and the pace increased in September and October, confirmed Oleg Yablokov, NTI wireless communications expert. According to his estimates, the demand for clamshells increased by 15-20% compared to the summer months, and up to a third for individual Samsung models.
Eldar Murtazin, a leading analyst at Mobile Research Group, also notes an increase in interest in these gadgets. According to him, it began to grow back in the summer, when it finally became clear that Apple would introduce its clamshell. After the company's presentation, this trend continued: in September-October, sales of flexible devices increased by about 20% compared to previous months, the expert estimated.
Due to the high price of Apple's folding new products, as well as the fact that similar devices from other manufacturers are much cheaper and often exceed it in a number of parameters, buyers have become more active in choosing alternative Duo flexible devices, he claims.
This trend is observed not only in Russia, but also in Europe and other countries, the expert added.
Samsung models are currently in the greatest demand among folding smartphones, the MTS press service noted. This is largely due to the limited supply from other manufacturers. Stocks of clamshell Chinese brands in the Russian market today are small, and the range is mainly represented by models of previous generations, according to the company.
— We consider such gadgets as a promising direction. The release of Duo will certainly attract additional audience attention to this form factor and will contribute to the growth of interest in the category as a whole. As the range expands and new models become available, customer interest in such devices will grow, MTS believes.
What are the reasons for the growing interest in folding smartphones?
— The first reason is the price: the average bill for a folding smartphone dropped to 101.4 thousand rubles against 104.2 thousand a year earlier. The second is the choice: Samsung, Huawei, Honor, Motorola and Xiaomi have updated their product lines, and it has become easier for the buyer to choose a device for their budget. The third is Apple," Oleg Yablokov listed.
The expert believes that the Duo's announcement worked as an advertisement for the entire category. People who have been eyeing the "clamshells" for several years have decided: once such a format appeared at the Apple company, it is no longer an experiment. Some of them chose Duo, while others chose Samsung models, which have been on sale since the summer, Oleg Yablokov noted. He expects record sales of foldable smartphones by the end of the year.
— 96 thousand devices were sold in nine months, for comparison: 104 thousand were sold in the whole of 2025, and the fourth quarter is traditionally the strongest for the retailer. By the end of 2026, the market will show 130-150 thousand folding smartphones. The category will feel the full effect of the iPhone Duo as early as 2027: if Apple keeps the announced supply volumes, clamshells will finally cease to be a niche," he told Izvestia.
At the same time, interest in the Duo itself is low, market participants said earlier. So far, individual buyers have decided to purchase it, electronics sellers and experts noted. Some retailers even refused to pre-order these smartphones.
"Preliminary market analysis and work with the customer base show limited and not very confident demand," the company said.
This is largely due to the fact that owners of new iPhones in the Russian Federation cannot use many functions. For example, they do not have access to an updated version of Siri with a personal context, which takes into account the contents of applications and performs complex actions inside the system, Izvestia wrote. The official ChatGPT integration via Siri and the built—in Writing Tools, which are tools for rewriting, shortening, and changing text style directly in applications, are also unavailable. In addition, Genmoji for creating your own emojis, the Image Playground image generator, the Visual Intelligence system for recognizing objects using the camera, advanced photo search and the Clean Up function are not available. The restrictions also apply to instant transfer of messages, phone conversations and audio via AirPods and a number of other features.
The demand for Duo is constrained by its high price, which even goes beyond the premium segment, says Denis Kuskov, CEO of TelecomDaily. According to him, buyers are also deterred by the limitations of the device's functionality.
At the same time, sales of folding smartphones will continue to grow by the end of the year, according to Svyaz.ON. Additional support to the market will be provided by the traditional New Year's Eve demand for gifts, marketing campaigns during the holiday sales, as well as a gradual reduction in prices for certain previously released models. By the end of 2026, the folding smartphone market in Russia may grow by about 20-30% in physical terms compared to 2025, the company predicts.
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