The Google Chromebook has moved past Apple to the head of the class for sales of tech products in the K-12 market.
Chromebook sales surpassed 51 percent, up from 40 percent, for the first time, according to third quarter figures for 2015.
Sales for Apple, which has put iPads, laptops and desktop Macs in classrooms, declined 24 percent, indicating schools that buy tech in bulk may be trying to save money, Mike Fisher, associate director of education technology at Futuresource Consulting, told USA Today.
“It’s a tidal wave: Chrome is the clear U.S. Market leader now,” Fisher told the newspaper’s San Francisco Bureau Chief Jon Swartz.
Fisher said Chromebook’s inexpensive price, between $200 and $300, plus easy-to-use operating system and low-maintenance IT, are behind Google’s gains in the K-12 market.
Apple remains an important player in educational markets. Apple has sold 15 million iPads to institutions worldwide, according to the USA Today report.
The story quotes school district officials across the country about technology purchases for their classrooms. One director of technology said, “cost and benefit” make the Chromebook the right choice for his school district.
But one technology specialist for a school district in Austin, Texas, said his schools were sticking with Apple, the iPads the tech tool of choice there for four years.
“We looked at Chromebooks, but felt it was limited in innovation and creativity,” he said.
Source: USA Today
