Interactive Displays Sales Fall Across U.S., Expected To Rebound In 2016
By Christine Kern, contributing writer
Interactive whiteboards (IWB) and interactive flat panel displays (IFPD) in the education and corporate sectors achieved close to 440,000 unit sales globally in Q3 2014, according to Rave. But while the global figures rose, sales in the U.S. did not reflect the worldwide trend. During Q3 2014, U.S. sales of interactive whiteboards and flat-panel displays to school districts experienced a decline — but those sales should rebound in 2016, says a report by Futuresource Consulting Ltd., as Education Week reports.
The report, titled “Interactive White Boards & Interactive Flat Panel Displays in the Education and Corporate Sectors Q3 2014,” is available for purchase here. The report demonstrated that education budgets across the United States were stretched this year as they prepared for online Common Core assessments set to begin in 2015. Districts were spending money on digital devices for testing, investing in technology infrastructure upgrades, and other necessary expenditures related to assessment, diverting funding from interactive display units.
Education Week reported that U.S. sales of interactive display devices fell 16 percent during Q3 2014 over last year’s figures, representing a combination of education and corporate sales, although schools make up more than 85 percent of the current market, according to Colin Messenger, a senior market analyst for Futuresource and the author of the report from the U.K.-based research and forecasting company.
Interactive display devices are already present in about 60 percent of classrooms, and Futuresource says by 2019, they anticipate 73 percent of classrooms will employ some form of interactive display. Messenger also predicted that sales would see resurgence in 2016 as schools begin to replace older interactive whiteboards, most likely with new interactive flat-panel displays.
“A big finding of the last two or three quarters is that interactive flat panels are making a play in the education market, and it’s moving as the next very strong trend,” said Messenger. The technology provides all the same functionality as interactive whiteboards.
“The product shift from interactive whiteboards to interactive flat panels continues to make waves in the industry, though has yet to percolate through all countries, Messenger explains.