Apple no longer sells in Turkey: the crisis is so bad that people buy electronic products as an investment

Consumers in Turkey who tried to buy Apple products in recent days were faced with a message denying them the purchase. The company has decided to stop sales in the country due to the enormous crisis facing the territory.

This comes against a backdrop in which the Turkish lira has tumbled to record lows after President Tayyip Erdogan defended recent sharp rate cuts. The problem is exacerbated when it comes to the coin has lost 43% of its value during this year and more than 22% since the beginning of last week alone.

Products have lost value compared to other countries

This situation has caused that the goods traded by the lira have experienced a sharp drop in value compared to those sold in other countries, which has resulted in retailers are struggling to adjust prices.

This was the reason why Apple’s Turkish e-commerce platform stopped the sale of most of the products, since the price of the company’s products in the country fell by 10% compared to the US.

“Currently not available,” read a text message on buyers’ screens, as reported. Reuters.

Turks buy iPhones as an investment good

The situation became so dire that many Turks began to view Apple products as an investment good, as explained by a company employee in Istanbul.

“It’s quite surreal, but people see it as a store of value and flock to stores. They know that they will be able to sell it a year later for more than what they paid, “explained the worker, as he collects Insider.

However, this problem is affecting the rest of the participants in the business fabric, which is why most markets are asking their large sellers to keep prices stable and refrain from increasing them, at least during the discount campaign.

And it is that this situation coincides with the beginning of the time of the year with the highest level of sales, which begins with Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday, so the uncertainty and concern of the sector are at all-time highs.