Apple Stops Sales in Russia

Russia’s war in Ukraine has been going on for quite some time now and the world is starting to take action.

War has broken out between Russia and Ukraine. Because of this, several groups all over the world have put sanctions on Russia. This aims to put a stop to the violence and hopefully give Ukraine its sovereignty back. 

And Apple is putting its foot down. The company is pulling the plug and putting a temporary pause in its in-country operations in Russia. 

Market bottomline in Russia

There are reports that in 2020, the subsidiary of Apple in Russia posted a year-end total revenue of about ₽260 billion rubbles. This converts to about $3.1 billion US dollars. This is a considerable amount but one that Apple is willing to lose to help fight for democracy in Ukraine. 

What is Apple pulling out?

Apple has taken a few concrete steps, much like other global companies in putting economic sanctions on Russia. 

• Apple Pay is temporarily disabled in Russia – there are a number of Russian bank customers who will not be able to use their bank cards with Apple Pay. Some of these banks are Novikombank, Promsvyazbank, Otkritie FC Bank, and VTB Group. Though their bank cards can still be used inside Russia, they will no longer work for merchants outside Russia, especially in countries that put economic sanctions.

• Apple pulled out Russian news apps from their App Store outside Russia. The RT News and Sputnik News will no longer be available for download in the App Store.

• The live incident report as well as traffic in the Apple Maps has been turned off. This move by Apple to suspend features of its Apple Maps is to prevent researchers from using it as a tool in the Russian invasion and get data on troop movements.

• Pulling out physical products. Perhaps one of the biggest moves by Apple in Russia is temporarily putting a halt to product delivery in the country. Though the online store is still up and running, Apple products like Macs and even iPhones are listed as “unavailable.” They cannot be added to the shopping cart.

Apple did say that it will continue to stay on top of the situation in Russia. They will also stay in communication with relevant government agencies to align them with actions the company will take moving forward. Apple is also one with the world in calling for peace in the country.

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