Report: Microsoft Dominates Global Education Sales
Google Chromebooks may be the hottest selling K–12 devices in the U.S., but Microsoft is still at the top of the operating system food chain globally, according to a new sales report from Futuresource Consulting.
According to Futuresource's report, Microsoft increased its market share in the education sector from 47 percent to 55 percent between 2014 and 2015. The leap is significant because it shows Microsoft bouncing back from a dip in 2013.
Though Microsoft's operating system soars outside the U.S., it faces mounting competition from Google's inexpensive Chromebook notebook, which has dominated the K–12 space since 2014. Last year, Chromebooks accounted for 56 percent of devices shipped, according to the report.
Since then, Microsoft has changed gears in its approach to the education market by offering lower-priced notebooks and partnering with Lightspeed Systems for better management capabilities — a strength of Chromebooks.
"Microsoft and Apple are both reacting to Google's rise in the US by making significant improvements to their respective ecosystems, while Microsoft is bringing new lower cost devices to the market to compete directly with Google in the sub $300 category," says PhiL Maddocks, Futuresource Consulting’s market analyst for education technology.
Windows-based notebooks in the same price range as Chromebooks include the HP Stream 11 Pro G2, the Acer TravelMate B117 and the Lenovo N22.
Upon the release of the Futuresource report, Microsoft took to its blog to say that Windows 10 was a large factor in the company’s success in 2015.
