IT Hardware in Education to Double in Value by 2015

[Apoptosis]

IT Hardware in Education to Double in Value by 2015

Futuresource Consulting, the leading provider of education technology research, has published a new strategic report, pulling together all the elements of education hardware for the first time and delivering a fully-comprehensive view of the global education landscape.

“Last year, worldwide spend on IT hardware in education was US$9.5 billion, an 11% increase on 2010 despite the global economic slowdown,” says Colin Messenger, senior consultant at Futuresource Consulting, “and we’re going to see this figure double by 2015. The education sector is now emerging as a key vertical in the B2B arena, as governments across the globe are realising the benefits of an IT literate workforce and the impact of technology as a teaching and learning tool.”

The Rise of the Mobile PC

Mobile PC sales - tablets, netbooks and notebooks - lead the upsurge, as many governments begin to focus on one-to-one learning programmes, where each pupil has access to their own mobile computing device. And with nearly 1.4 billion enrolled students and teachers across the world this represents a significant opportunity for vendors.

“By 2015, mobile PC sales will increase three-fold,” says Mike Fisher, Head of B2B, Futuresource Consulting. “The notebook has been the main growth device for the last five years, accounting for more than 50% of last year’s market value, with the Americas leading the way in terms of units shipped. However, tablets are now coming to the fore and the majority of early growth is originating from nationwide projects in the Asia Pac region, particularly Thailand, India and Korea.

“The US market is also expected to see major growth in tablet sales, from around 200,000 in 2011, up to 2 million in 2015, and adoption is expected to be driven in part by the Apple announcement of iBooks 2 - the eTextbook platform - as this provides content producers with an easier route to market.

“Looking to EMEA, the market experienced strong growth between 2007 and 2010, but due to the economic downturn a few planned rollouts failed to take place and trading became difficult, resulting in a slowdown in growth in 2011.”

The Classroom Displays Category

Within the classroom displays category, Interactive Whiteboards (IWBs) have long dominated the market, with few affordable competing alternatives available to challenge their position. More recently, the landscape has begun to shift rapidly with IWB solutions coming under increasing pressure from new display products and suppliers. This pressure is further compounded by governments and educators increasingly searching for open source software platforms; key IWB vendors have tended to avoid this model, valuing the ability to lock-in end users to proprietary platforms to ensure strict license controls.

Interactive projectors have seen strong early adoption, though this success has largely been driven by entry level positioning and pricing. Consequently the value performance has been limited. The new technology has pushed powerful projection vendors into a head-to-head battle with IWB vendors, where once the relationship was far more symbiotic with projectors used in conjunction with IWB devices. Interactive projection vendors are also increasingly forming valuable relationships with education software vendors: a critical part of an interactive solution and an area in which IWB vendors have held a position of strength.

“Dedicated single-function complementary devices such as voting systems will also come under pressure in the long term from tablets and other multifunctional devices,” says Messenger. “However, short to mid-term sales of complementary devices are expected to hold as few schools and universities can currently guarantee one-to-one device usage; additionally, infrastructure developments and penetration of cloud computing will support multifunctional devices longer term.”

The Battle for the Classroom Ecosystem

With a wide variety of suppliers targeting different elements of the education market, competition in the education sector is extremely fragmented. Until now, AV solutions providers, IT infrastructure and one to one learning solutions providers have operated separately. However, end users are already seeking to unify their digital learning structures and strategies, challenging suppliers to develop integrated solutions, greater product choice and a wider, more inclusive approach to channel and reseller relationships.

“Apple’s announcement of iBooks 2 has made it clear that suppliers with the best combination of hardware, software and content are likely to dominate the landscape moving forward,” says Fisher. “The ability of suppliers to monetize the content and services part of the ecosystem will be critical, and the development of content partnerships and content platforms is likely to be a key factor in overall market leadership.”

The Report

‘Technology in Education: Global Trends, Universe Spend and Market Outlook’ is available now from Futuresource Consulting, the leading providers of education technology research. With more than 90 pages of forecasts, statistics and analysis, this report provides an annual round-up of critical information for any company seeking to understand the market opportunities for technology in education, including the opportunities, outlook, market movements, megatrends and competitive shifts.

For more information or to make a purchase visit www.futuresource-consulting.com