Brea-based visual display maker ViewSonic Corp. puts stock in going to school.
The company has seen a big growth spurt in classroom sales of its digital ViewBoard interactive flat panel displays, which let multiple users write, edit and draw on-screen for teaching and presentations, in color. The product array is as K-12, with items tailored to youth from kindergarten through high school.
Its aim is “to foster collaboration in the classroom,” Americas President of View Sonic Jeff Volpe told the Business Journal. “We made it our mission to improve learning through technology.”
The company makes LED monitors and visual display products. Companywide sales grew 20% last year, fueled by the education market expansion; it sees another 20% uptick this year. Its systems are in more than 560 U.S. schools.
Learning Fun
“ViewSonic is the fastest-growing provider of interactive display” products to education, Volpe said.
It’s No. 3 in market share, behind Smart Technologies Inc. in Alberta, Canada, and Promethean Inc., in Seattle, according to ViewSonic.
Displays link with company software, called myViewBoard, to “create lesson plans; save, share and engage students; and honestly, just make learning fun,” Volpe said
Teachers can share lessons, import web content and convert materials made with other software.
Some 600,000 students and teachers have downloaded the software, the company said.
Prices for panels—known as “whiteboards” and looking like massive iPads—vary; schools often buy large quantities from resellers and distributors.
ViewBoards run 55 inches for about $1,700 to 65 inches at $2,400 to 75 inches and $3,700. Larger models have been most popular.
Ed, Continuing
The company trains teachers on its myViewBoard software, who then bring staff at specific schools up to speed, a big “value-added component,” Volpe said.
Some 500 teachers are currently in the certification program, which includes developing a lesson plan based around the tech teaching system. In-school training includes four-to-eight hours hands-on with staff members.
The privately held company relocated from Walnut to Brea in 2014; it doesn’t release sales figures but is estimated to do more than $1 billion in annual sales from its U.S. and Taiwan offices.
The company’s product line includes desktop monitors, projectors, commercial displays and digital signage. Its overall growth includes expansion into businesses and gaming monitors, among other products.
Founded in California in 1987, ViewSonic moved up two spots to No. 6 in the Business Journal’s latest list of consumer electronics companies in Orange County, which is ranked by employee count.Â
ViewSonic locally had about 200 workers, double its count from a year before.
