RIP PC? Not So Fast…

According to a new report conducted by Futuresource Consulting, the global sales of mobile PCs in the K-12 market reached 29.2 million units in 2017, up from 26.3 million in 2016. The report highlights that growth in the US market has slowed in 2017.

“Despite the slowdown, both Google and Windows devices saw unit growth during the fourth quarter, while Apple's iPad volumes declined year-on-year after shipments reached a quarterly high of over 1 million units during Q2 2017,” says Ben Davis, Senior Market Analyst at Futuresource Consulting.

The Rest of World (World excluding US) market reached 15.5 million units in 2017, a 13.7% year-on-year increase. In the US, the Chrome OS continues to hold a majority share of the market, reaching 59.6% of devices shipped in Q4 and 58.3% of devices shipped during 2017. The US market accounted for 87% of Chromebook shipments to K-12 schools globally in 2017, and Chromebook OS is continuing to grow its presence in other international markets.

As the mobile PC market in education continues to grow, and the product offering from major platform providers like Microsoft and Google expands, the competition between these major platforms is expected to intensify, with implications across the ed-tech industry.