Russian consumer electronic boom: Sales of electronics and home appliances in Russia hit a historic high of over RUB500b in the fourth quarter of 2014 with the sector’s largest ‘legacy’ retailer M.video experiencing a 52% year-on-year surge in sales – but nobody is expecting it to last. Experts say that the abnormally high performance was down to panic among the population as Russians hurried to change their rapidly devaluing roubles in to tangible goods amid fears of rising inflation. Sales at on-line retailer Yulmart were up 20% in volume and 36% in value, with the most popular items being laptops, TVs, smartphones and tablets. The sector is now bracing itself for a very different set of figures for the first quarter of 2015. Kommersant