OVAB Europe has released the March/April 2016 results for its Digital Signage Business Climate Index (DBCI), which tracks the mood in the signage market in several European regions. This week we are looking at the DACH sub-region: Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
The overall DBCI for DACH remained almost flat, with a low decline of 0.85 base points, from 63.65 to 62.8. Market participants are conservative about the current market situation: there was a fall in those who consider it ‘good’ (72.7% in Jan/Feb, 68.6% now) and a rise in those who said it was ‘satisfactory’ (24.7% to 29.8%).
Expectations for the next six months were positive, with 62.8% of participants predicting a more favourable business situation (up from 59.3%), and 33.1% expecting no change (from 38.7%). Those expecting less favourable conditions rose slightly, from 2% to 4.1%.
In a country-specific break down, business sentiment was down 0.2% YoY in Germany and 14.5% from the previous survey. Austria also declined, 1.5% YoY and 0.4% from Jan/Feb. Switzerland, which is not part of the Euro, rose strongly: up 45.2% YoY and 36.5% from the previous survey.
The business sentiment of display vendors remained volatile. There was a strong decline in the last survey, but a healthy rise YoY in the current results. Q4’15 was fairly slow, and the display industry has been encouraged by ‘good’ numbers in Q1’16.
Service providers, especially system integrators, recorded and are expecting very positive demand. All surveyed companies in this sector reported a satisfactory or good business situation. In contrast, the software market registered a decline in the current business climate and expectations for demand in the next six months. However, as this decline has come from a high level in January, overall sentiment is still good.
The DOOH industry as a whole has lost some momentum, reports OVAB, with business sentiment down almost 20% from the previous survey – however, the annual comparison is still positive. A good Q4 led to positive feelings in Q1.
OVAB’s survey shows that cross-media bundling for dynamic campaigns, such as online video, will drive DOOH in the near future. About 40% of market participants expect this to have a positive effect. There will be few new digital networks rolled out in the near future – new network installations have been low for two to three years in DACH. Investments in existing networks are increasingly shifting from installing new locations or displays to upgrading existing hardware and software.
