Total UK interactive whiteboard (IWB) sales for last year came in at 73,000 10,000 less than in 2006 and forecasts for this year hint at a further decline.
Analyst group Decision Tree Consulting (DTC) has predicted sales of boards will total just 57,000 in 2008. “We have known for some time that the core market for IWBs education is starting to reach maturity, so this dropoff is not a surprise,” said Colin Messenger, senior consultant at DTC.
“However, we anticipate that sales will remain at about 57,000 for a couple of years it will not drop any lower and will then start to climb again in 2011,” he said.
The reason for the predicted growth in 2011 is the replacement market. Although no one knows the exact lifespan of an IWB, DTC has estimated it to be about eight years. Therefore, the boards that were first installed during 2003 will be reaching the end of their lives in 2011.
However, Paul Berry, president of Europe at IWB vendor Promethean, disagreed with DTC’s prediction.
“I think a board will last less than eight years probably six to seven years so we should see a replacement market taking off sooner than 2011,” he said.
However, projectors, which IWBs need to operate, only have a lifespan of about two to three years, so there are plenty of refresh opportunities for resellers around projectors this year, according to DTC.
“The 100,000 IWBs that were sold in 2005 will now need their projectors replaced, so it is an ideal opportunity for resellers to upgrade customers to short-throw projectors,” added Messenger.
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