Apple’s True Goal (and Underlying Strategy) For the Education Market

As I zoom out and think about Apple’s Education focused event from Tuesday, a few things stand out worth digging into. The education market itself is much more a software and services-centric market, from a solutions standpoint, than a hardware one. Yes, cost is a factor, but it is not the only factor. Many people don’t realize this important point. The average selling price of Chromebooks into educational markets varies between $199-$250 depending on the world region. North America, has the largest number of annual sales of Chromebooks with ~8 million being sold in 2017. However, when you talk to IT managers at educational institutions and educators, it is not the hardware that influences their decisions as much as it is the management software of the hardware and the educator’s ability to manage student work, and communications with students and parents.