Smart Technologies (stylized as SMART Technologies) also known as Smart, is a Canadian company headquartered in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and wholly owned by

Foxconn Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd., trading as Hon Hai Technology Group in China and Taiwan and Foxconn internationally, is a Taiwanese multinational electronics contract manufacturer established in 1974 with headquarters in Tucheng, New T ...

. Founded in 1987, Smart is best known as the developer of

interactive whiteboard An interactive whiteboard (IWB), also known as interactive board or smart board, is a large interactive display board in the form factor of a whiteboard. It can either be a standalone touchscreen computer used independently to perform task ...

s branded as the "SMART Board" popularly used in education and business.

History

Smart was founded in 1987 by husband and wife David Martin and Nancy Knowlton. In 1991, Smart introduced its

, branded the "SMART Board". In 2003, Smart developed and later patented DViT (Digital Vision Touch) technology which was an important feature of the SMART board. In 2009, Smart filed a

patent infringement Patent infringement is the commission of a prohibited act with respect to a patented invention without permission from the patent holder. Permission may typically be granted in the form of a license. The definition of patent infringement may v ...

lawsuit against New Zealand-based NextWindow before acquiring the company outright in 2010. On July 15, 2010 Smart Technologies placed an

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...

on the

NASDAQ The Nasdaq Stock Market () (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations Stock Market) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the US by volume, and ranked second ...

stock exchange and

Toronto Stock Exchange The Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX; french: Bourse de Toronto) is a stock exchange located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the 10th largest exchange in the world and the third largest in North America based on market capitalization. Based in t ...

(TSX), raising upwards of $660 million. Later that year, several

class action A class action, also known as a class-action lawsuit, class suit, or representative action, is a type of lawsuit where one of the parties is a group of people who are represented collectively by a member or members of that group. The class actio ...

complaints were filed against SMART in the

U.S. District Court The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...

s in New York and Illinois. Filed on behalf of the purchasers of the Class A Subordinate Voting Shares in Smart's IPO in July 2010, the complaints alleged that the company did not disclose important information prior to the IPO. A settlement was reached in March 2013. As of the 2011

fiscal year A fiscal year (or financial year, or sometimes budget year) is used in government accounting, which varies between countries, and for budget purposes. It is also used for financial reporting by businesses and other organizations. Laws in many ...

end, SMART Board interactive whiteboards led the interactive whiteboard category with a 63% share in the United States, 44% share in EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) and 47% share globally. In 2011, Smart employed about 1,700 people. In April 2012, amid a declining stock price and sales resulting from decreased school board spending, both Martin and Knowlton resigned from their executive roles at Smart before leaving the board in April 2014. On December 11, 2012, SMART Technologies announced it would begin corporate restructuring. The company proceeded to lay off 25% of its employees. Then-CEO Neil Gaydon stated that it would save the company approximately $40 million, and cited competition in the market as part of the reason for restructuring. In 2016, SMART Technologies Inc. was acquired by

for $200 million.

References

External links

Official Site

Corporate Logo Guide
{{Authority control Companies formerly listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange Companies based in Calgary Apax Partners companies Computer companies of Canada Display technology companies 1987 establishments in Alberta Canadian companies established in 1987 Computer companies established in 1987 Foxconn 2016 mergers and acquisitions Canadian subsidiaries of foreign companies