Historically, Microsoft and Apple have dominated the education market. But Redmond and Cupertino might want to keep their eyes on Google.
Google's Chromebooks have officially unseated iPads as the most popular new devices shipping to schools in the U.S., according to the Financial Times, which cited figures from IDC. In the third quarter of 2014, Google shipped 715,500 of its Web-based laptops into U.S. schools, compared to 702,000 iPads.
Part of the reason for their popularity is price. With prices starting as low as $199 a pop, brand-new Chromebooks are much more affordable than, say, a 2013 iPad Air, which starts at $379 after educational discounts.
The IDC data aligns with stats released today from Futuresource Consulting, which found that Chromebooks are now the best-selling device in U.S. K-12 education for the second quarter in a row. Shipments of Chromebook PCs reached more than 1 million units in the third quarter of the year, accounting for more than 35 percent of all personal computing devices, Futuresource said.
"Chromebooks continue to outpace the sales of competing platforms such as Apple's iPad and other notebooks within the U.S. market, with more than two million shipped between January and September 2014," Futuresource said.
Still, Apple is still No. 1 in terms of market share in U.S. K-12 education thanks to the MacBook and iPad. Chromebook providers Dell and Acer are No. 2 and 3, respectively.
In October, IDC said that "shipments of entry systems, including Chromebooks, continued to inject an important source of volume and sustained improved consumer demand in certain markets over recent quarters."
July data from NPD, meanwhile, found that U.S. commercial channel sales - which include businesses, schools, governments, and other organizations - of Chromebooks were up 250 percent over the last year for the first five months of 2014, and made up 35 percent of all channel notebook sales between January and May.
Google has also gained traction thanks to its Apps for Education Suite, which is free for schools and lets teachers create and collect assignments online — without wasting paper. Microsoft offers similar functionality with Office 365, but schools have to pay for it.
Meanwhile, Apple has also had some issues in the education market. A $1.3 billion effort to provide an iPad to every student and teacher in Los Angeles, for instance, has been hugely problematic since its rollout last year. The FBI is now investigating the LA school district's deal with Apple, and this week seized 20 boxes of documents related to the initiative, according to the Los Angeles Times. A federal grand jury subpoena asked for documents relating to the bidding process and the winning bidders.
The project quickly fell apart last year after close ties between former superintendent John Deasy, subcontractor Pearson, and Apple executives were discovered. The initiative also suffered early technical setbacks after students figured out how to bypass the built-in security and hacked the tablets to access Twitter and other unauthorized websites and apps.
For more, check out PCMag's roundup of The Best Chromebooks.