UPDATED 22:30 EST / DECEMBER 16 2014

NEWS

Apple suspends sales in Russia due to wildly fluctuating ruble

rubleApple Inc. has suspended sales in Russia due to wild fluctuations in the value of the ruble, as the impact of declining world oil prices and Western sanctions continue to destabilize the currency.

The Russian ruble dropped 19 percent in market trading Tuesday, dropping to a low of 80 rubles to the dollar. In late trading the ruble was back up to 58 rubles to the dollar as the Russian Government increased interest rates from 10.5 percent to 17 percent.

An Apple spokesman told Bloomberg that “Our online store in Russia is currently unavailable while we review pricing.” The spokesman did not say when the store would return.

Apple’s international stores regularly review prices relative to exchange rates, but this is the first time the tech giant has suspended trading.

On the ground, reports suggest that there is a full-blown panic, and that “fear has taken over…with a run on the entire country.” Russians consumers are said to be swamping “malls to swap cash for washing machines, TVs, or laptops—anything that might hold value better than paper money.”

Apple does not have a bricks and mortar retail presence in Russia outside of third party retailers, and sells a modest 1.3 million iPhones a year in the country from a worldwide total of 153.4 million


A message from John Furrier, co-founder of SiliconANGLE:

Support our mission to keep content open and free by engaging with theCUBE community. Join theCUBE’s Alumni Trust Network, where technology leaders connect, share intelligence and create opportunities.

  • 15M+ viewers of theCUBE videos, powering conversations across AI, cloud, cybersecurity and more
  • 11.4k+ theCUBE alumni — Connect with more than 11,400 tech and business leaders shaping the future through a unique trusted-based network.
About SiliconANGLE Media
SiliconANGLE Media is a recognized leader in digital media innovation, uniting breakthrough technology, strategic insights and real-time audience engagement. As the parent company of SiliconANGLE, theCUBE Network, theCUBE Research, CUBE365, theCUBE AI and theCUBE SuperStudios — with flagship locations in Silicon Valley and the New York Stock Exchange — SiliconANGLE Media operates at the intersection of media, technology and AI.

Founded by tech visionaries John Furrier and Dave Vellante, SiliconANGLE Media has built a dynamic ecosystem of industry-leading digital media brands that reach 15+ million elite tech professionals. Our new proprietary theCUBE AI Video Cloud is breaking ground in audience interaction, leveraging theCUBEai.com neural network to help technology companies make data-driven decisions and stay at the forefront of industry conversations.