Russia’s DBCI remained negative in July/August, but rose since the previous poll: from -7.15 to -6.82. Although the political situation in the country has cooled, Russia’s economic situation remains volatile. The low oil price, combined with high inflation, devaluation of the local currency and lower foreign investments, is having a serious impact.
In a reversal from the French market, only 22.7% of Russian signage companies perceive their business situation as ‘good’. 45.5% see it as ‘satisfactory’ and 31.8% as ‘poor’. Over the next six months, 27.3% expect the situation to improve; 40.9% to stay the same; and 31.8% to become less favourable.
OVAB also looked at the market for interactive signage in Russia. These are becoming increasingly popular, but market participants only see a strong future for touch applications (47.1% of respondents expected high demand over the next two years). 5.9% expected demand to be high for iBeacons, NFC and QR codes, and none forecast high growth for the Kinect.
