Apple relies on sales in U.S. schools to consolidate its leading position on the tablet market. Tomorrow it will launch, the iPad Mini, a smaller and cheaper version of the iPad. Schools in San Diego, for example, this year bought 25,000 iPads, according to Bloomberg.
“It’s about the ‘cool’ factor. Students are super motivated,” said Julie Garcia, professor of mathematics at a secondary school. For schools across the country attractiveness of Apple tablet is given by the price as well, not only content, so that, due to budget savings, the schools could be interested in a cheaper version of the iPad, which will have a 7.85-inch screen instead of 9.7 inches and a price of $249 instead of $499 to $829.
Apple has long been a leader on the education market: schools were interested in the iPad tablet immediately after its launch in 2010 as a cheaper alternative to laptops. In addition to the education market, Apple CEO, Tim Cook, will use the new iPad to try to strengthen the company advance against its rivals Amazon and Google and, more recently, to protect against the competition from Microsoft, which will launch its first tablet soon.
Market research firm NPD DisplaySearch predicts that the tablet market will more than double to $162 billion by 2017. Apple executives at the event on Tuesday will try to highlight the educational options offered by the iPad, according to sources close to the situation.
U.S. expenditures for information technology in schools reached approximately $19.7 billion in 2010-2011, according to the Center for Digital Education. Education staff orientation to tablets reflects a tendency on consumer electronics market where iPads are preferred to PCs.
“We’re giving up the PCs and laptops. 90% of the activity is taking place now on mobile devices,” said James Ponce, director of the McAllen Independent School District in Texas.
The new iPad comes at a critical time where Apple shares fell by 13% from a record high reached on September 19, two days before the launch of iPhone 5. Sales of Apple’s smartphones were held back due to delivery problems.
Apple has a new competitor on the tablet market, Microsoft, which will launch on October 26, its first such product, the Surface tablet. Apple controlled in the second quarter 70% of the tablet market, followed by Samsung Electronics with 9.2%, and Amazon – 4.2%, according to IHS iSuppli.
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