Smart whiteboard reaches 1 mln milestone

Smart Technologies has announced that the one millionth Smart Board interactive whiteboard has rolled off the company’s production line in Canada, selling approximately three times as many interactive whiteboards than its closest competitor.
The Middle East market has also made a notable contribution towards this success over the last five years with more than 7,000 Smart Board interactive whiteboards sold in the region, with the UAE accounting for the bulk.
Smart had a 53.3% global category share in the first half of this year, up from 45.5% in the first half of 2007, according to Futuresource, a research company that has tracked interactive whiteboard sales for the past eight years.
For more than 15 years, Smart has continued to develop and refine its interactive whiteboard by improving hardware design and upgrading software. The company has steadily expanded its Canadian-based operations to meet increasing global demand for its wide range of popular education, training and collaboration products. In October 2007, the company opened a new, purpose-built facility to provide the flexibility required for accelerated market expansion. With greater production capacity, Smart predicts it will produce its two millionth Smart Board interactive whiteboard within the next couple of years.
“Since we first conceptualized the interactive whiteboard, we saw the potential for the product in numerous teaching, learning and collaboration environments,” says David Martin, Smart’s cofounder and executive chairman.
Smart’s executive chairman and cofounder, David Martin, conceptualized the Smart Board interactive whiteboard 22 years ago, and in 1991 the first generation of Smart Board interactive whiteboards was introduced. Currently in its sixth generation, the Smart Board interactive whiteboard line has expanded to include models integrated with projectors and other tools.
Smart sold the world’s first interactive whiteboard to the University of Nevada 17 years ago. The university saw the product as an ideal tool for its distance education program, and for the same reason, the University of Ottawa was also an early customer for Smart. Today, interactive whiteboards and interactive displays have become standard in K–12 classrooms, higher education environments and meeting rooms around the world.
Futuresource forecasts continued strong growth for the interactive whiteboard product category, with a 200% sales increase over the next five years. For education, that means one in six classrooms globally will have an interactive whiteboard by 2011.