“CEO Steven P. Jobs and his troops have clearly been on a college roll. In each of the past three quarters, Apple has posted 40% increases in year-over-year sales for this segment,” Alex Salkever writes for BusinessWeek. “During the first half of its current fiscal year, Apple posted an 18% bump in year-over-year education sales. And most of that has come from higher education, since the K-12 market has remained almost flat for Apple. Clearly the Mac is climbing the Ivory Tower. “
“What’s behind the college revival? Credit Apple’s one-two laptop punch — the lower-end iBook and the more powerful PowerBook, which are packing a wallop. ‘They have the right products at the right time,’ says Kenneth C. Green, director of the Campus Computing Project, an ongoing industry-funded study that examines how computing is used in higher education,” Salkever writes.
“Then there’s the music factor. Apple’s iTunes software, which comes as a free download for either PCs or Macs, has become the de facto standard for managing digital tunes on the desktop,” Salkever writes. “That, plus the runaway success of Apple’s iPod music player, could be fueling a slow but steady increase in Apple customers. ‘My sense is that music and the iPod are influencing purchasing decisions,’ says analyst Charles Wolf of Needham & Co.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Boy, BusinessWeek is really pulling out all the stops to cover Apple in-depth lately! It’s good to see the interest in the Macintosh and people waking up to what we’ve all known for years: get a Mac and your computing life will be easier, less stressful, more productive, and just plain fun!
Yep, it’s happening…GO APPLE!
One advantage that was barely mentioned in the BusinessWeek article:
“Indeed, the pricey PowerBook has become the favorite portable workstation of the campus Unix clique, which wants a nifty graphical interface and the ability to crunch serious code.”
I believe the ability to run both productivity apps and to program in a unix environment has had a major impact on Apple’s success in higher education. Indeed, GO APPLE!
perhaps it’s the iBook/PowerBook line that entices the back-to-school folk, leaving the gap of the iMac abyss smaller than originally thought. That’s good. And when we see the new iMac, that should spark more Mac sales.
Very cool. And I would think this DOES translate into people continuing to purchase Macs after their college days. Granted, some will have to go with Windows, depending on the company they sign up with. But I’m guessing the majority will come to appreciate the elegance and just plain enjoyment with working on a Mac.
I have the “best” PC laptop for business that there is on my desk.
It’s an HP nw8000 with Penitum M 745 (1.8 GHz), 1 gig ram, Wifi a/b/g, bluetooth, 80 gig 7200 rpm drive, DVD_+RW/CD-RW drive, 1600×1200 15.4″ screen, and every thing else desireable on a laptop. And of the top 16 business laptops, PC Mag chose it as best of the best. (Of course, Windows XP Pro really brings it down a few notches!)
And yet it pales in comparison to the 15″ Powerbook. And cost $1,000 more that the PowerBook does! Tha’ts how good Powerbooks are, and what a value they are!
Is it any surprise that schools choose Mac? No, it’s a surprise they’d choose anything else!
yeah, tic tock guys.. the new iMac’s coming inabout 3 weeks.. no time.
Way cool. Keep on keeping on Apple!!!
Hopefully, the Neanderthalic-thinkin’ K-12 administrators will stop listening to the baseless “what businesses use” logic for making decisions for their students, and think instead of ‘What are colleges using?” What is best for the student?!!
Low on funds?
No money for musical instruments?
What about GarageBand for music theory?
Final exam: Compose a song!
No money for a drama department?
What about a camcorder and iMovie for a performing arts class?
Final exam: Make a movie/video!
No money for an art department?
What about Bryce, Photoshop, iPhoto?
What about a senior class in desktop/web publishing?
What about blending the two for an annual class music video project, each year a different theme?
What about SEEING math formulas in motion?
What about a senior class in Quicken?
What about the students creating the Class Yearbook on a DVD with photographs, narrations and videos?!
All of this on EACH child’s iBook!!!!
The very same iBook that will take the child into college with a headstart.
Using iMacs and iBooks as a SOLUTION to low funds while giving the child a tool to allow their imagination to soar.
THAT is education!!!
So long as he can read and write….
Less is more… U are so right, as long as they can read and write 1st before we all get inot this Pyscho-analitical computer thing. remember our nations still produces the highest number of kids who can’t read, @ least amonsgt most modern societies.
Aryugaetu, good points but GarageBand, as good as it is, is NOT a music composition tool.
Of course, there are a lot of very good ones for the Mac. I personally like SmartScore.
-B