Education Stimulus Funds Put Projectors At The Head Of The Class

That's according to market researcher iSuppli, which attributes a spike in projector shipments in North America directly to the stimulus' effect on education, a key vertical market for projector sales.

"The primary factor responsible for the growth in the U.S. projector market is the increase of shipments of front projectors in K-12 classrooms and universities," wrote Sanju Khatri, iSuppli's principal analyst, projection and large screen displays, in a research note. "As the [stimulus] funds have become available in July, education spending in the United States is now on the rise."

According to iSuppli, shipments of projectors in North America increased to 440,322 units in the second quarter of 2009 from 391,646 units in the first quarter. That's a gain of 12.4 percent in the midst of what according to iSuppli was a 0.4 percent decline in global projector shipments for the same period.

In addition, iSuppli noted the the education sector is expected to account for more than one-third -- 38 percent -- of overall projector shipments in 2009.

One crucial component to ARRA's effect on education funding is Title IID, the Enhancing Education Through Technology grant program. The stimulus legislation appropriated $650 million for Title IID's stated goal of "improving academic achievement through the use of technology in elementary and secondary schools." Most of those funds became available to school districts and universities starting in July.

"People are taking advantage of it," said David Perkins, vice president of sales for Howard Technology Solutions, an Ellisville, Miss.-based solution provider. "Every state's different, but it's starting to trickle in. And I wouldn't limit it to projectors. It's classroom technology, all A/V and instructional products, personal response systems, even document cameras. It's only just starting. October's going to be massive for us."

Thanks to the timing of the funds, VARs are also seeing plenty of deals outside the normal education buying season -- typically late spring into early summer -- as schools seek to capitalize on stimulus dollars that weren't available to them earlier in the year during more traditional spending periods.

Projector vendors such as Epson, InFocus, NEC Display, Toshiba and others see stimulus' effect on projector and A/V sales as a catalyst.

"I think it's probably going to be a while before we see the sort of volume we were achieving two years ago or even a year ago," said Keith Yanke, director of product marketing at NEC Display Solutions. "But the stimulus money definitely helped this summer -- we saw a significant increase. We expected it to be good, specifically into education, but it went exceptionally well."

Yanke suggested that projector technology has evolved to a point where classrooms can maximize what they're able to do with projectors without overspending.

Among other developments in projector technology, networking and services capabilities with projectors are more sophisticated than ever. Brightness levels are also improving -- there's a shift going on, Yanke said, from the 2,000 to 2,200 lumen category of projectors to the 2,500 to 2,700 lumen category -- and the popularity of short-throw projectors that don't require lots of cumbersome cabling and installation continues.

"It's less light in the instructor or student's eyes, and the projector is that much closer to the screen," Yanke said of short-throw units. "The total of cost ownership is also usually cheaper."

The research from iSuppli further estimated an increase of 18.2 percent in North American units shipped in the third quarter.

Perkins noted that despite the stimulus-driven funding increases, schools are still under pressure to buy with an eye toward cost savings and efficiency, especially in A/V.

Howard Technology Solutions is the country's largest reseller of technologies by Mimio, which markets its Mimio interactive systems as lower-cost alternative to schools that can't afford to buy from Smart, Promethean or other big-name smartboard makers. Mimio bars, for example, combine with computer systems and LCD projectors to turn whiteboards into interactive whiteboards that project what's on the computer screen.

"Mimio is affordable," Perkins said. "One smart Promethean is three times more expensive than a Mimio. In fiscally hard times, it's not that hard to explain."