Mobile retailer Svyaznoy plans to launch Apple Premium Reseller mono-brand stores in 10 Russian cities.
According
to TelecomDaily analyst Denis Kuskov, who is familiar with the
company's plans, Svyaznoy intends to open the first Apple stores in
Yekaterinburg, Kazan, Krasnodar, Novosibirsk and other cities with a
population of over one million.
The first store is set to open Feb 15 in Novosibirsk.
According to Kuskov, Svyaznoy had agreed with Apple on direct supplies of the entire range of Apple products.
"The
Apple Premium Reseller status awarded to the company, the opening of
mono-brand stores and an agreement on direct supplies will possibly
allow Svyaznoy to influence Apple, while Apple's new products will
appear in Svyaznoy without delay," Kuskov said.
Svyaznoy chief
executive officer Denis Lyudkovsky said the company was bound by an
agreement with Apple and could not comment on its plans of building a
mono-brand network without Apple's consent.
Lyudkovsky said, however, that the company would soon launch a new mono-brand project.
Apple's representatives in Russia declined to comment.
Svyaznoy
became the largest distributor of Apple's products in Russia in 2012,
selling gadgets worth 4.9 billion rubles ($160 million), Lyudkovsky
said.