Google Takes Over The Classroom

In recent years Apple has seen a decline in its classroom presence. Back in 2013 Apple accounted for around half of all mobile devices in the classroom. That number has been steadily decreasing over the past three years. The classroom has cemented itself as a major purchaser of mobile devices. In 2015, schools purchase 12 million mobile devices in total. As education continues to change, technology will become increasingly prevalent in the classroom, which may be troubling to Apple but will certainly please other tech companies.  

Apple’s Decline

The use of Apple devices in classrooms, including but not limited to, Ipads and Macbooks saw record low last year. The same could be said for its operating system as the two are inseparable. MacOS and IOS now stand in third place behind Google’s and Microsoft’s operating systems. Previously, Google and Microsoft had trouble keeping up with Apple in the past few years but the tide has shifted in their favor. Now the Google produced, Chromebook accounts for 58% percent of this market. This is a significant 50% increase for the company compared to the sales in 2015.

Teacher’s Pet

This shift in preference can be attributed to a few factors. Firstly, the products sold by Google and Microsoft are much cheaper than those made by Apple. Apple products can sell for hundreds of dollars more than Google’s. A school could potentially purchase a handful of Chromebooks for the price of one Macbook.  Google also employs a software called Classroom that has been popular among educators. Classroom is a favorite among teachers for the ability to look and monitor their students’ screens as they work. Microsoft in turn is too lowering their prices and are applying an array of classroom tools to their upcoming releases. 

 

This steady decline in Apple’s classroom sales can mainly be attributed to the high price of their laptops and tablets.  If Apple wants to regain their hold on this market they will have to compete with the low prices and student friendly software of their competitors.