Apple's iPad overtaking PC sales in schools

The education market is a big segment of computer and tablet sales in the U.S. and new data claims, "the iPad is beginning to cannibalize a material portion of PC sales in this market."

Dara Kerr Former senior reporter

Dara Kerr was a senior reporter for CNET covering the on-demand economy and tech culture. She grew up in Colorado, went to school in New York City and can never remember how to pronounce gif.

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Dara Kerr

Sept. 4, 2012 8:28 p.m. PT

As back to school kicks off in the U.S., new data claims that Apple's iPad is outpacing traditional PCs in sales to students and schools for the first time ever.

Charlie Wolf, an analyst at Needham & Company, wrote to investors today that the iPad is now "cannibalizing" PCs in sales to the K-12 market, according to Apple Insider.

"Clearly, a significant portion of iPad sales represented an expansion of the market," Wolf wrote, according to Apple Insider. "But in view of the fact that Mac sales held steady at around 520,000 units but overall PC sales declined by 265,000 units from 1.90 million to 1.64 million units, we believe the inescapable conclusion is that the iPad is beginning to cannibalize a material portion of PC sales in this market."

This has been a high sales year for iPad. Apple reportedly shipped a record-breaking 20 million devices last quarter and during the first quarter of the year, iPad sales hit 11.8 million.

The tablet is not just outpacing competitor PCs in the education market -- it's also selling more than Mac PCs, according to Apple Insider. This quarter, double the number of iPads have been sold over Macs to students and schools.

And it doesn't stop there, Wolf speculated. He believes this trend will move into the home use market also.

"In our view, the education market is the canary in the coal mine," Wolf wrote. "The next market the iPad is likely to impact is the much larger U.S. home market."