Why has this situation arisen with domestically produced equipment? Perhaps it's due to limited production capacity or because the low prices of the products can't cover the commissions from listing them on large platforms. There's another caveat: perhaps marketplaces avoid collaborating with domestic manufacturers because the quality of Russian products remains unimproved?
Washing machines
The situation in washing machine production is far from optimistic, although production of these products in Russia has always been challenging. Most of the equipment produced in our country is "screwdriver-based," meaning it's manufactured on foreign equipment using imported components. For example, the Russian brand "Vyatka" was acquired by the Italian company Candy, which spent about a decade developing and improving it, but production was subsequently redirected to Candy washing machines.
Russian brands of washing machines are the semi-automatic ones "Fairy" and "Siberia".
But what modern housewife would want to use them today, manually fill and drain them, and lift a machine weighing at least 10 kilograms onto a special stand installed above the bathtub? Such machines are more suitable for a summer house.
Three domestic brands available in our stores
- Rolsen. This brand has received positive reviews and is affordable. It offers a variety of home appliances (vacuum cleaners, heaters, beauty products, kitchen accessories, etc.). The well-known Rubin television brand has now been acquired by Rolsen, which is still producing it. You can be sure that we'll be well-stocked with televisions and LCD monitors, at least.
Rolsen's Russian factories assemble foreign brands such as Daewoo, JNC, Toshiba, Thomson, and LG. This raises concerns about the future of production in light of recent global events.
How will Rolsen manage the freed-up capacity and will it be able to establish its own production?
- Vitek. A budget domestic brand assembled in Southeast Asia. This is a weak point: transportation companies refuse to work with domestic companies, threatening a shortage of equipment accumulated at the manufacturing plant. Furthermore, the question arises: "Will demand for Vitek equipment be as high as for imported equivalents?" After all, the company had already attempted to enter the Polish and Baltic markets from 2006 to 2011. The product failed to prove competitive, and the project was abandoned.
- "Comfort", "Umnitsa", "Aksinya" - brand Delta. Another domestic brand, assembled in China. According to customer reviews, the products are quite good, with quality that matches the price. They offer small household appliances (juicers, irons, etc.). Another brand assembled in China is Yaromir, whose price matches its specifications.
And yet, there is quite a lot of equipment and electronics that are assembled in our country:
- Beko (Voronezh region, Kirzhach). The domestic Beko plant began production in 2006. It manufactures refrigerators and washing machines. In 2015, approximately 750 units were manufactured. It's worth noting that 70% of components arrive at the plant ready-made.
- LG (Moscow region, Ruza city). LG factories operate in many countries, including Russia, where they sell approximately 1 million televisions, affordable refrigerators, and washing machines annually. Key components are imported from Korea and China.
- Indesit And Ariston (Lipetsk). The factory, which specializes in the production of refrigerators and washing machines, has been operating since 2004. It must be said that the quality of its products has declined recently.
- Samsung (Kaluga). The plant began operations in 2007. It assembles televisions and monitors. The main components are imported.
Belarusian brands
In addition to domestic household appliances, Belarusian-made products are also worth mentioning. For example, the following brands:
– Alesya – specializes in the production of gas and electric stoves.
Atlant is a fairly popular Belarusian brand in our market. Previously (before 1993), it was called "Minsk." They produce refrigerators, washing machines, and freezers.
– Belvar produces various equipment (household, garden, radio equipment, etc.).
– Vityaz specializes in the production of electronics and household appliances.
– Horizont is a well-known Belarusian brand of electronics and household appliances, which has been operating since 1950.
This is far from a complete list of Belarusian brands whose product prices correspond to their quality.
Conclusion
Of course, the list of domestic brands is not as diverse as we would like.
The main difficulty in saturating the Russian market with household appliances is that the list of foreign companies that have left the market is quite impressive.
Moreover, many brands will continue to leave, and many domestic companies source the bulk of their components from abroad. We must be prepared for the possibility that we might even find ourselves unable to afford household appliances from Aliexpress due to rising prices, the collapse of the ruble, or if China supports anti-Russian sanctions.
