For calendar year 2012, sales of interactive whiteboards and interactive flat panel displays in the education and corporate sectors are up 15 percent annually, to nearly one million displays, according to the latest quarterly research from Futuresource Consulting. This is despite the increasing presence of personal tablet devices in the education sector, which continue to gain a foothold. The following data provides key highlights from the market report.

Asia: Best Ever Year for Sales

Asia has, by far, achieved its largest ever quarter, with nearly 70 percent annual growth. China – for the first year the world’s biggest market – achieved a significant sales volume. Futuresource expectations are that the huge education tenders will continue. India also experienced a substantial quarter, with more than 100 percent increase in the year.

USA: Market Continues Falling

In the USA volumes fell to 27 percent below 2011, as previously forecast by Futuresource, and the education market is expect to continue to drop over the next few years. By the end of this year almost half of K-12 classrooms will have an interactive display and the early models sold into the market are not yet ready for replacement. The rise of tablet devices will also impede growth of interactive displays.

EMEA: Strong Growth

EMEA experienced its largest year of sales, achieving 24 percent annual growth. Sales in Russia almost doubled their 2011 levels.

The Global Perspective

Futuresource forecasts show that the total display technologies market of interactive whiteboards, interactive flat panels and interactive projectors will reach 1.16 million devices by 2017. However, the adoption rates of the three products are very different by country and even by region. Futuresource has compared all three technologies in eight regions and countries.

Looking at some of the country tenders, Saudi Arabia, pending for some time, started shipping. However, the Mexico tender, hanging for several years, was canceled.

Over three million tablets were purchased by schools in 2012 and this has definitely contributed to the increased competition for education budgets. However, The scale of the corporate space presents a number viable opportunities. With over 67 million meeting rooms worldwide, this segment of the corporate market alone is twice the scale of school classrooms. As a result, the corporate market is forecast to be the fastest growing sector, increasing to 30 percent by 2017. This growth will be in more developed markets like the USA, UK, Germany and Sweden.