Russian manufacturers of power supply units and casings of computers and servers are grappling with underutilization of their capacities due to lesser order volumes. Industry insiders confided to Kommersant . Russian IT hardware producers tend to favor cheaper Chinese components. Furthermore, such foreign components accumulate fewer points during domesticity tests, scarcely impacting their inclusion in the Ministry of Industry and Trade register.
According to Oleg Izumrudov, the director of the consortium of data storage system developers (RosSXD, includes MCST, Norsi-Trans, Aerodisk, and others), domestic manufacturers of power supplies and housings for computing equipment are “only 20% utilized” due to parallel imports.
Sergey Zakharov, CEO of Prankor plant (part of GS Group), reported a steady demand for IT equipment casings, but the manufacturing capabilities “allow an increase in output”. He noted several advantages of localisation in Russia, including adapting components to customer requirements, service maintenance, logistic cost savings, and absence of payment issues. Zakharov expressed that increasing the number of points for Russian casings in the domesticity evaluation for inclusion in the Industry and Trade Ministry’s register could positively impact demand and possible cost reduction for Russian components.
Alexey Melnikov, the managing partner of the IT-holding Fplus, advocates that the issue lies not in demand but in the lack of cooperation between Russian enterprises. He asserted, “There is a demand for Russian chassis components, but developers prefer to order them from China because they provide a turnkey service for case preparation, chassis, power supplies, and so on, while different factories are responsible for this in Russia, which turns out to be more expensive and time-consuming,“.
