Russian officials buy four times more iPhones after ban

Despite an official ban on Russian government workers using the iPhone, an unreliable report says that sales have risen dramatically.

It was in 2023 that Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) tried banning government staff from using iPhones. Purportedly, it was because the FSB believed the US was using the iPhone for eavesdropping.

Now according to Reuters, local Russian sources are saying the ban rather failed. While the figures have yet to be confirmed by any other source, the Vedomosti business daily claims that purchases of iPhones from January 2024 to September would four times higher year over year.

It's said that the 2024 bill for iPhones was approximately $71,470. For January to September 2023, it was $17,670.

Prices for the iPhone in Russia are considerably higher than in the US, although this seemingly hasn't dampened consumer enthusiasm. With a base iPhone 16 costing the equivalent of $1,225, the most the government can have ordered is around 60 iPhones.

That rather dispels any idea that Russian officials are rebelling against the ban en masse. But it also points to how the original ban was seemingly far from a blanket one.

Equally, that destroys the idea that the FSB can be serious in its allegations of iPhone wiretapping. It's always been more likely that any ban is a retaliation for how Apple has ceased directly doing business in Russia since the start of the war with Ukraine.