Futuresource’s annual report about technology in education shows that the ‘‘total universe spend in the global education technology market in 2012 increased 23% to $11.6 Billion, from 2011.” Colin Messenger, senior analyst at Futuresource Consulting, says: “This is a strong result compared to other markets and considering the pressure on education budgets across the world.”
Looking to the future, Futuresource expects the total value to reach $21 Billion by 2017, a CAGR of 12% from 2012 to 2017.
The education sector is slowly moving digital, potentially opening up a wide range of revenue stream opportunities (in hardware, software, content, infrastructure and services) for suppliers. This increase of universe spend in education technology has been primarily driven by the uplift in the mobile PC market, which at $6.8 Billion now accounts for 59% of the total spend, up from 51%.
The explosion of tablets and ‘one to one learning programs’ primarily driven by the iPad and now iPad mini, has dominated the news in the last 12 months. This is especially true in North America where iPad sales have taken a major budget share. Significant projects in Thailand, Turkey, Brazil, Korea and India are expected to accelerate growth in 2013.
In 2012 a million displays were sold, an annual increase of 15%. The product mix is also changing with interactive flat panels having a four-fold volume increase. There is a proliferation of new models and new vendors entering the market. This is leading to increased competition, especially for interactive whiteboard vendors who have traditionally dominated the segment.
