Futuresource, UK, 1 March 2015 – According to the latest report from Futuresource Consulting, the market for mobile computing devices in the compulsory education sector (K-12) has risen by 18.3%, with the number of devices shipped into K-12 education globally in Q4 2014 amounting to 5.7million.
The report, Personal Computing in K-12 Q4 2014 Market Track Report, highlights a particularly strong growth in the USA, where the market grew by 40.5% in 2014 driven by Common Core and the movement towards online assessment. Another interesting trend uncovered in the report is the continued success of Chromebook devices, which now collectively have 39% market share in the US in 2014 (over 3 million units sold in 2014), overtaking iPads (26%) as the bestselling device type on the market.
In this report, Futuresource predicts that this strong growth in PC adoption is likely to continue throughout 2015 (12% growth expected). Futuresource is monitoring potential national level projects in as many as 46 countries globally, highlighting how governments are increasingly realising that they can influence the skills sets of their future workforce through major ICT investment programs in schools.
“The education sector provides a vast potential market for vendors and component suppliers alike, and with an increasing range of education focused devices entering the market we are expecting competition to hot up,” commented Mike Fisher, Associate Director – Education Technology, Futuresource Consulting. “We have seen strong success for Chromebooks in the US market, but to date limited success outside of the US. Apple continues to maintain a strong position in developed markets, especially in Western Europe. Many Microsoft partners are offering detachable and convertible form factors which are slowly gaining traction and are expected to gain share in 2015.”
The report provides market sizing data and analysis on mobile computing devices within the compulsory education sector (K-12) worldwide. It also covers shifts in education spending, government plans and specific tenders, as well as outlining market developments and trends relating to products and technology.