A new era is beginning for laptops in Russia: goodbye to imported operating systems!
Significant changes are expected in the Russian electronics market. The country's business circles and IT specialists are promoting an initiative to mandate the installation of locally produced operating systems on imported laptops. This was announced to the media by Alexey Melnikov, a managing partner at the Fplus IT holding in Russia.
It is proposed that all laptops sold in electronics stores, online shops, and marketplaces in Russia must have one of the local operating systems, such as "Alt," Astra Linux, or Red OS, pre-installed. Melnikov expressed confidence that this new requirement would not have a negative impact on the country's economy or market. "Nothing will happen – neither inflation nor other types of events in the market," he emphasized.
This initiative is similar to the earlier requirement to mandatorily install Russian applications on smartphones. That is, now consumers purchasing a laptop will be able to choose their preferred local operating system during the initial setup process. However, the idea of installing Russian mobile operating systems like "Aurora" or Red OS Mobile on smartphones was not supported by the Minister of Digital Development, Maksut Shadayev. The reason given was that this could lead to a decrease in the volume of imported products.
At the same time, Yekaterina Demkina, head of the Russian Association of Electronic Communications, noted that the process of mass installing local operating systems on laptops would be very complex. In her opinion, the current readiness of the OSs provided by local developers is not sufficient. This may require additional time and resources to fully meet the new requirements.
Currently, the overall share of laptops with locally installed operating systems in the Russian market remains very low – around 2-3 percent. Despite the laptop market in Russia growing to 242 billion rubles (approximately 3.9 million devices) in 2024, the sales of laptops decreased by 12 percent in the first quarter of 2025, according to the publication "Kommersant," citing its sources.
Experts emphasize that this initiative will serve to increase the country's technological independence. At the same time, some analysts and market participants express concerns that the introduction of the new requirement could lead to drastic changes in the Russian electronics market. Although no specific timeline has been announced for when this new regulation will come into effect, it indicates the beginning of significant changes for Russian consumers.
