Product category leader’s share increases six points over 2007
CALGARY, Alberta --- February 13, 2009 --- SMART Technologies announces its continued leadership in the interactive whiteboard product category globally with a 53.2 percent share of sales in 2008. SMART’s share increased six percentage points over 2007 and almost ten points over 2006, as reported by Futuresource Consulting, a leading global research company that has tracked interactive whiteboard shipments for almost nine years. Futuresource also identifies SMART as the leader in all major geographies, including EMEA, Asia and the Americas. The United States was the most active market in 2008, accounting for nearly half of all interactive whiteboard sales worldwide. Futuresource reports that SMART continues to have a clear lead in the United States with a 59.4 percent product category share, nearly two-and-a-half times that of its nearest competitor and up slightly more than six points over 2007. Globally, in 2008, SMART sold close to 300,000 SMART Board™ interactive whiteboards, a record year for the company and more than double the sales of its nearest competitor.
Futuresource noted that 557,000 interactive whiteboards were shipped in 2008, a 32 percent increase over 2007. More than two million interactive whiteboards are now installed worldwide, and the product category continues to exhibit strong growth. Futuresource forecasts that the global installed base will triple over the next five years to more than seven million. The consulting firm also predicts that one out of every five classrooms worldwide will have an interactive whiteboard by the end of 2013.
“SMART’s continued leadership in the interactive whiteboard product category reflects the way we work with our customers to make easy-to-use products that meet their education and business needs,” says Nancy Knowlton, SMART’s CEO. “Record sales throughout 2008 inspire everyone at SMART to surpass that record with even more innovation in 2009.”