Russia’s recent invasion of Ukraine has created an international incident the likes of which hasn’t been seen in at least a few decades as far as Europe is concerned. It has resulted in a rather widespread fallout, with many countries choosing to sanction Russia economically because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up pressuring the country to stop its invasion and the loss of lives that it is causing.
With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that individual companies are choosing to exit Russia as well, with 300 companies deciding to take this route. This obviously includes a huge number of tech companies which could end up having a rather disproportionate impact on the Russian people, many of whom do not support this war and have been arrested for trying to protest against it. 68% of Russian citizens used to use YouTube before the Kremlin blocked it, and with Google’s pull out they may never get the chance to do so again.
Russian people might not be able to buy high end smartphones either, with both Apple and Samsung pulling out of the company to protest its actions. However, it should be noted that this might create a prime opportunity for Chinese companies. Xiaomi in particular has been growing rather rapidly in recent years, and these sanctions could give it a chance to create and maintain an unassailable foothold in Russia for the most part.
Spotify and Netflix have also suspended services in Russia, and that is something that many Russian people would be quite frustrated by. Even though only 15% of Russians used Netflix and 7% used Spotify, these services were still quite new in the region and there is a pretty good chance that they would have grown in user numbers if given the chance. This just goes to show how major international affairs tend to impact average citizens instead of the people that are actually responsible for them in the first place all in all.
H/T: Statista.
Read next: Russian government bans news channels and social media apps, residents turn to VPN to bypass censorship
With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that individual companies are choosing to exit Russia as well, with 300 companies deciding to take this route. This obviously includes a huge number of tech companies which could end up having a rather disproportionate impact on the Russian people, many of whom do not support this war and have been arrested for trying to protest against it. 68% of Russian citizens used to use YouTube before the Kremlin blocked it, and with Google’s pull out they may never get the chance to do so again.
Russian people might not be able to buy high end smartphones either, with both Apple and Samsung pulling out of the company to protest its actions. However, it should be noted that this might create a prime opportunity for Chinese companies. Xiaomi in particular has been growing rather rapidly in recent years, and these sanctions could give it a chance to create and maintain an unassailable foothold in Russia for the most part.
Spotify and Netflix have also suspended services in Russia, and that is something that many Russian people would be quite frustrated by. Even though only 15% of Russians used Netflix and 7% used Spotify, these services were still quite new in the region and there is a pretty good chance that they would have grown in user numbers if given the chance. This just goes to show how major international affairs tend to impact average citizens instead of the people that are actually responsible for them in the first place all in all.
H/T: Statista.
Read next: Russian government bans news channels and social media apps, residents turn to VPN to bypass censorship