The issue of the gray market has generated too much fear among users, since three companies in the country have already decided to block phones coming from this dynamic: ZTE, Motorola and Samsung.
For the latter, the issue was of utmost relevance, since this market represented between 15 and 20% of sales nationwide and its first action was also to send notifications to users about a possible block.
On the other hand, the Chinese company Oppo also said that they are considering taking measures against this market, although so far the blocking of this company’s devices has not happened.
Regarding this issue, the Federal Consumer Prosecutor’s Office (Profeco) shared with Expansión that both the gray market and the blocking of cell phones by manufacturers are not illegal practices.
The only possibility of probable illegality is based on the fact that telecommunications service providers, such as Telcel, AT&T or Movistar, must ensure that the phones they sell were approved in relation to the national market.
However, in the event that a user purchases a phone through a marketplace, social networks or an unauthorized distributor and it turns out to be from the gray market, there is no legal framework that protects their purchase if the device fails.
After starting to block devices from the gray market, Samsung launched an official application to help users identify if a device comes from this industry.
On the other hand, a fundamental point to avoid being a victim of this issue is to check that the device has the NOM-024 label, which has the importer’s information and product details in Spanish.