Russia sees sharp increase in sales of memory cards because of drones

In the first nine months of 2023, sales of memory cards for smartphones, cameras, drones and other gadgets in Russia increased by 70 per cent compared to the last year's figures.

In January-October 2023, some 2.9 million memory cards were sold in Russia. Year by year, this is 70 per cent more in physical terms and 27 per cent more in monetary terms, Kommersant newspaper reports citing data from retailers.

Micro-SDXC format cards are the most popular - they accounted for 58 per cent of all sales. The demand for cards of this type is explained by their wide use among manufacturers of smartphones, drones, video cameras and more.

The most popular brands were American Kingstone (26 per cent of the market) and Sandisk (8 per cent of the market), as well as Chinese Netac with a share of 7 per cent.

Analysts and industry retailers attribute the growth of the memory card market to the increased demand for quadcopters. The prevalence of Chinese low-cost smartphones also served as a driver.

"The trend can be explained by the growing sales of Chinese phones, which are usually equipped with a slot for additional memory. Now the share of Chinese smartphones on the Russian market is 85 per cent in units".