Google’s Chromebooks retain 51% market share in US classrooms
A new report from Futuresource Consulting shows Google’s Chromebooks continue to dominate K-12 purchasing in America, saying that the affordable devices' capturing of 51% of the market share came as many districts were also implementing online assessments. The devices aren’t as popular in other countries, with Chromebooks representing 41% of sales in Canada, 9% in Finland, 9% in the UK, and 1% in India, eSchool News reports. According to the report, Microsoft is planning to compete with Chromebook in the wake of its new collaboration with Lightspeed, ultimately offering similarly low-cost and user-friendly devices to support the growth of 1:1 classroom tech initiatives. 

Latest quarter reveals that Chromebooks took 51 percent of K-12 market sales

Chromebook sales have surged in the U.S. K-12 education market, with the devices now making up 51 percent of sales for the first time, according to a new report from Futuresource Consulting.

In the report, the consulting firm notes that the increase in Chromebook sales “has coincided with the need for districts to implement online assessment,” and that Chromebooks’ ease-of-use and traditionally low prices have helped increase sales.

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Despite the rapid sales growth in the U.S., sales across the rest of the globe are much slower. Chromebooks held 41 percent of sales in Canada, 9 percent in Finland, 9 percent in the U.K., and 1 percent in India.

The “OS competition” is only going to heat up, analysts predict.

“Chrome is the clear U.S. market leader now with over 50 percent of the K-12 OS market share, meaning Apple and Microsoft both have significant ground to make up. Microsoft is making strong moves, developing a partnership with Lightspeed to address device manageability, whilst bringing new devices to market which are likely to compete head on with Google in the key sub-$300 range. It will be interesting to see if Microsoft can halt the momentum Google has developed in the U.S. We envisage that the summer buying season in 2016 could be incredibly competitive with an OS price ‘war’ taking place,” said Mike Fisher, Associate Director of Education Technology with Futuresource Consulting.

More and more, school districts are choosing Chromebooks as they roll out one-to-one initiatives in their schools.

IT leaders in Virginia’s Chesterfield County Public Schools opted for Chromebooks based on their cost, network capacity to support the devices, and the devices’ short boot-up time.

The district was hoping to expand learning outside of classroom walls and school hours, said Lyle Evans, the district’s assistant superintendent, human resources & administrative services.