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SALES OF MOBILE PCS INTO THE US K-12 EDUCATION MARKET CONTINUE TO GROW, AS OS BATTLE HEATS UP

Whilst the growth of Chromebooks has certainly been a major headache for Apple and Microsoft, they are not standing still. Both made major developments through 2016, Apple announcing the ‘Classroom’ app and major education focused functionality updates on iOS 9.3, including the ability to share iPads. Microsoft has also had a suite of ecosystem developments, including the launch of ‘Microsoft Classroom’, ‘School Data sSync’ and a large number of integrations with popular third party solutions.


Following up on an earlier post this week about Bak USA (company-with-a-cause, affordable laptops and tablets made in USA, Microsoft OEM) check out this overview from Futuresource on trends in the K-12 educational device market.

Google has been making large strides at Apple’s expense, but that is just domestically. The jostling for position looks a little different when we zoom out, with Microsoft taking an overwhelming lead.

From the AP:

…Chromebook’s success story in schools is largely an American one, and it’s likely to stay that way. Gartner analyst Mikako Kitagawa notes that Chromebooks are useless in China because the device depends on Google services that aren’t available there. And in emerging countries, where a budget laptop would be ideal, she said internet access isn’t reliable enough.

So, Bak USA, whose leadership has already been successful selling affordable devices in emerging countries, appear to have a whole lot of room to grow, especially with their new partnership with Microsoft.