“When administrators in Ohio’s Mentor Public Schools were buying MacBooks during the 2015-16 school year, the local Best Buy was offering a lower price than Apple, even after the company’s standard discount for school districts. Superintendent Matt Miller pushed for a better deal, but Apple said it would not budge from its price list,” Sarah Butrymowicz and Tara García Mathewson report for Wired. “The company prohibits most third parties from selling new devices to school districts, so Miller couldn’t place a bulk order with Best Buy as a district official.”
“Frustrated at the thought of spending money he could use elsewhere in his budget, Miller devised an extreme workaround. He told Apple he would buy gift cards for each of his 2,700 high school students, bus them to Best Buy and let them purchase their own MacBooks,” Butrymowicz and Mathewson report. “He threatened to invite local news outlets and create a media circus.”
“Apple backed down. While the company listed those MacBooks at $829 per device, it charged Mentor Public Schools $759 each, according to school officials. The 8 percent discount saved the district nearly $200,000,” Butrymowicz and Mathewson report. “The same device or program can cost more from one state to another and even from district to district. Responsibility to negotiate with vendors falls on school districts that often do not have the time or resources to drive a hard bargain. Many also don’t have information about discounts that other school districts have received, and, when purchasing from a company like Apple, which has a reputation for being rigid with pricing, some district officials don’t even know they can ask for larger discounts.”
“A Hechinger Report analysis of Apple purchasing documents from 75 school districts around the country found big disparities in prices on devices, warranties and professional development support,” Butrymowicz and Mathewson report. “Five districts received double-digit percentage discounts, while dozens of others got no money off at all, even when making large purchases.”
Much more in the full article – recommended – here.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple’s education reps are going to love this well-timed report.
SEE ALSO:
Apple iPad’s next big act could be conquering U.S. classrooms – March 26, 2018
iOS 11.3: What to expect from Apple’s new system update as it launches tomorrow – March 26, 2018
Apple will not livestream its March 27th education event – March 23, 2018
How Apple blew it and lost the education market to Google – March 23, 2018
Apple to host education event in Chicago on March 27th – March 16, 2018
Apple is losing its grip on American classrooms to cheap Chromebooks – March 2, 2017
Google’s Chromebooks outsold Apple’s Macs in the U.S. for the first time – May 20, 2016
Why iPads are losing to Chromebooks in education, and what Apple needs to do about it – January 13, 2016
Apple loses more ground to Google’s Chromebook in U.S. education market – January 11, 2016
Now that’s a school superintendent that I could back, and one clever dude. If Apple really wants the education market they better cut out this kind of crap and give them good deals to begin with.
Kudos to the school Administrator that thought outside the box to make the effort to get the best deal to manage scarce resources after deciding to go the Apple route.
It seems to me that you should invest in your education. Multimedia products will allow you to properly analyze and search for information. I prefer to search for educational resources on the open internet. For example, such sites allow you to get a quick response and high-quality selection of information.
good post