About Futuresource Consulting

Futuresource Consulting, the specialist research and consulting company, is delighted to be the official knowledge partner for CEATEC. The company can trace its roots back to the 1980s and provides market insights into consumer electronics, digital imaging, entertainment media, broadcast, optical manufacturing, storage media, professional IT and education technology.
With more than 70 full-time employees providing in-depth analysis and forecasts across consumer and professional electronics categories, Futuresource is able to advise on market, competitive and technological developments, providing clients with access to the information that helps produce the best possible results.

Vol.1692018/9/30

K-12 Education Market Continues to Provide Growth Opportunities to PC OEMs and the Major OS Providers

05 Sep 2018 - Sales of Mobile PCs* into the K-12 education sector continue to rise in H1 2018, with annual shipments growing 4.6% year-on-year in the second quarter, reaching 6.5 million units, up from 5.5 million in the same period last year. The outlook for the rest of the year is positive, with shipments of several large-scale projects and continued growth in run rate business expected to drive continued growth throughout the 2nd half of the year.

Continued growth in the education sector comes at a time when PC & tablet sales in enterprise and retail markets are stagnating. With the education vertical offering growth opportunities to both PC OEMs and the major OS providers, competition in the sector is intensifying.

This competition is most evident when evaluating the strategies of the three major Operating System providers, Apple, Google and Microsoft. With the first half of 2018 hosting a key portion of the education buying season, a review of Futuresource data highlights some interesting trends:

Demand for computing solutions in K-12 education is forecast to grow throughout 2018 and into 2019. While developed countries continue to offer stable growth opportunities, large projects in emerging territories are often delayed or cancelled. "Projects in Venezuela and Argentina slowed significantly during the second quarter of 2018, while those in Venezuela are under threat for the rest of the year due to the difficult socio-economic conditions within the country," commented Mariia Konovalova, Market Analyst at Futuresource Consulting. "On the contrary, the EMEA region is expected to see strong performance from its key markets including Sweden, Benelux and the UK."