Education Hardware Technology Spend Increases by 23%

Futuresource Consulting, the leading provider of education technology research, has published its annual strategic technology in education report, delivering a fully-comprehensive view of the global education landscape.

"Total universe spend in the global education technology market in 2012 increased 23% to $11.6 Billion, from 2011," says Colin Messenger, senior analyst at Futuresource Consulting, "this is a strong result compared to other markets and considering the pressure on education budgets across the world."

Looking to the future the total universe value is expected to reach US$21bn 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.

The Rise of the Mobile PC

This increase of universe spend in education technology has been primarily driven by the uplift in the mobile PC market which at $6.8 Bn 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 US districts 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.

The Classroom Displays Category

In 2012 a million displays were sold an annual increase of 15%. The product mix is 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 IWB vendors who have traditionally dominated the segment.

The Interactive Projector market is expected to have some of the greatest growth in the classroom technology market, with a 2012 - 2017 volume CAGR of 19%.