Device Churn in Education – 626,400 devices are being replaced each year in the Education sector.

London, UK – November, 2022.

Acer conducted research in partnership with PX3 – an award-winning IT sustainability consultancy – which revealed that on average educational establishments replace 480 end user computer devices each year. However, for instance one university affirmed that its replacement program is of 2,500 devices annually. Considering that the UK has a total of 1,305 multi-academy trusts and universities, these findings suggest a considerable turnover involving the purchase and disposal by the education sector alone of around 626,400 devices yearly.

Device Churn

Such replacement is widely known as ‘device churn’. The average replacement cycle of EUC devices is three years and a half. 67% of respondents affirmed that they replace their EUC devices before they are four years old and 18% reported to keep devices in use for 5 years or longer. Only one multi-academy trust, admitted a refresh cycle of 10 years. No universities confirmed a device churn shorter than three years – compared with 24% of multi-academy trusts who did – and twice as many universities as trusts reported cycles of 4 – 5 years.

Many institutions implement EUC devices replacements on a regular basis, choosing not to conduct periodical specific analysis.

Many organizations believe that outdated, underperforming and obsolete devices can potentially pose organizations to risks, including security risks and that they need to be replaced with up-to-date equipment and to keep with the ongoing technological progress.

In the market research that took place, the most common reason for replacing devices given was performance for 67%, followed by battery life for 57%, operating system compatibility for 46% and expiring hardware warranties for 38%. Considering climate change concerns, energy consumption drives replacements for 31%.

Screen quality and screen size feature a low end of the range of key issues driving device churn for respectively 27% and 20%. Less significance has the appearance of the device for 11% and weight for 9%.

Conclusions.

Acer and PX3’s findings on the issue of device churn showed a continuous and early replacement of EUC devices than manufacturers may expect, due to performance, functionality and compatibility rather than for problems relates to equipment aesthetics or user experience.

Keep innovating with Acer for Education. Come to visit us at Bett show 2023 in stand NJ10 to stay current with the latest EdTech trends, discover innovative solutions for schools, update your skills and more! www.acer.com