Ukrainians bought over 800 thousand smart phones in the first quarter of 2016 (from January to March). The sales reached the revenue of 3.2 billion hryvnia (USD $127 million) for 3 months.
In the country of 42 million people, those are impressive numbers.
The average price of mobile phones in Ukraine has increased by 36% as compared to the last year. Ukrainians bought more than 800 thousand smart phones in just 3 months.
Valentina Pechonchik, an analytic from GfK Ukraine, stated that regular smart phones cost around 4000 hryvnia (USD 158) in the country. The majority of people cannot afford an expensive iPhone or Samsung, however, there are multiple cheaper Chinese alternatives available on the market.
The average price of a mobile phone in Ukraine has increased due to the rise in sales of devices with larger screens (5 inches and over).
The share of smart phones in the marketplace in the first quarter of 2016 was 58%, against 32% last year, the expert pointed out.
Ukrainian consumers buy phones with larger screens as they use them to surf the Internet, watch videos, make photos, etc.
Despite hryvnia’s lower value to US dollar, revenues from sales of smart phones in Ukraine remain high, Finance.ua reported.
In 2015 Ukrainians purchased 3.2 million smart phones to the amount of 11 billion hryvnia ($435 million).
So, if you are talking to a young Ukrainian woman who says she doesn’t have a smart phone to talk to you on Skype or Viber, you know it’s a lie. Either she doesn’t really want to talk to you face-to-face (why?) or it’s not her who is sending you letters and messages but someone else trying to take advantage of you. Any young woman under 35 who says she doesn’t own a phone that is capable of Internet connection and use of apps has an agenda.
A smart phone is the first thing young girls buy: They make selfies, chat to their friends, use apps, and in general it is the “IT” item without which she is like a person without a car in LA, USA. Girls will starve but buy the latest mobile phone, or at least a model from the previous year. Free Wi-Fi is available in Ukraine in shopping centres, cafes, even on buses and trams.
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I remember the days, when the phone at school was something like taboo, but it’s all different today. Every young girl has a trendy smartphone and she never sleeps. She needs to send messages, make selfies, read hot news every minute etc. Social networks do the trick!
Elena, While it may be true that young women have smart phones, this may not be true for older women. I am communicating with an older woman I met on Elena’s models (to me she is not “older” as I am 55 and she is 49), and because she is a government worker only working part-time and a single mother to boot, she is unable to afford a smart phone. She does have a 10 year old ‘dumb’ phone and we’ve spoken several times (although truth be told, her phone does not work too well and we keep getting cut… Read more »
Mark, older women are simply not as keen on a change. My mom is still using iPhone 4 I gave her 3 years ago. Before that, she had an old Nokia. But once I gave her the iPhone, she was extremely excited to use it, although she probably would never spend that much money on a phone herself (older people learn to be economical and try to survive). Younger girls (let’s say under 35) all have smart phones and replace them often. They would starve rather than have an old phone. 🙂 The average price of a smart phone in… Read more »
In the apartment near mine, the 4 persons live (Kiev), a father 75 years old, a mother 58 years old, and two daugthers 32 and 35. The father does not have mobile phone- he says, that he does not need it. Other family members own simple phones. They do not want to have modern models, because there is no need in this. Their family own old computer, they do not need a modern one, because they use only word, internet, and to watch photocam pics. I do not want to have smart phone, because it is heavy and fragile, I… Read more »
Certainly, smartphones are really impjrtant nowadays. It is impossible to imagine any life without them. Interestingly, how much percents of Ukrainan people can afford expensive devices such as IPhone or Sony? Even in Russia there’s not lots of people who can))
Сertainly, smartphones are becoming increasingly popular, especially among young people. Ukraine is not an exception. I also can`t live without my phone: I need to take photos of each moment of my life, to talk with my friend for hours and spend a lot of time in social networks 🙂
I like different modern devices and I really think they are very useful. However, many people use their phones all day and they can’t communicate with other persons. I believe that everybody should be able to combine real communication with the virtual and everything will be ok!
Last week my smartphone died and it was a tragedy for me! Yeah, it’s bad to be so dependent on a phone, but it helps me so much. While doing some homework my baby watches cartoons, when I’m travelling I use its maps, when insomnia happens I read books or surf internet. And all these opportunities are hidden in a small device. It’s funny, but I rarely use it as a telephone, I prefer to communicate using social nets.