MOSCOW, January 20. /TASS/. US technology giant Apple has taken the lead in smart phones sales in Russia for the first time, boosting sales by 80% in monetary terms to $1.03 billion, Russian major mobile retailer Svyaznoy said in a survey.

In volume terms sales growth exceeded 60% reaching about 2.7 million smart phones. Samsung is leading in the sales in physical terms, ranking second in the sales in monetary terms.

The survey showed that major growth driving factors became record-high sales in the 4th quarter of 2014, then Apple’s share has made 36% in monetary terms. Apple succeeded to attain such a high rise of sales in the 4th quarter thanks to high interest of customers to new developments — iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.

In 2014, Apple has raised its market share to 30% from 21% year on year.