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Google has reportedly approved the use of Huawei’s in-house Kirin application processor to power the 2015 Nexus smartphone, replacing the Nexus 6. China’s Huawei has been widely rumoured to take over from Motorola in assembling the native Android flagship phone. (IN PHOTO) A Google logo is seen at the garage where the company was founded on Google's 15th anniversary in Menlo Park, California September 26, 2013. (Photo: REUTERS / Stephen Lam)

This is a tremendous win for Google in a market that was once greatly dominated by Apple and Microsoft. Based on a Financial Times report and IDC, Google has shipped 715,500 of the low cost laptops into various U.S. schools in the third quarter versus the 702,000 iPads that were shipped.

The iPad, which was once Apple's fastest growing product, is now clearly showing decrease in sales and popularity. When the iPad made its debut in 2010, the device was expected to hook the academic sector with the hope of eventually replacing expensive books. The tech giant also reported that it has sold 13 million iPads to education practitioners worldwide and obviously beating Windows-powered PC's, Time reports.

The US$199 selling price also makes the Chromebooks more enticing to schools as compared to the US$379 cost for a 2013 iPad Air (after educational discounts), this iPad model happens to be the cheapest. Microsoft is also trying to compete with HP's Stream netbook which also costs US$199.

Aside from the high cost, the lack of an integrated keyboard in the iPad makes it less useful which has pushed away many academic institutions. Students need to be able to type for longer periods of time as they get older. Although some schools that use the iPad also supply their students with a portable keyboard, it is also another turn-off since the additional peripheral means added cost to the tablet. With the iPad missing a keyboard, this also points a larger issue concerning the tablet as a more useful educational device. On the other hand, Chromebook's integrated keyboard gives the device more appeal.

According to Tech Spot, Apple has made great efforts in dealing with different schools. Just last year, the tech giant negotiated with the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) to supply every student with an iPad. However, the program which was intended to acquire an iPad for each student turned into a controversy after students disabled features to limit their use and the district also failed to consider many administrative policies.

Finally, the Chromebooks are not equipped with features associated with fun and games which make the Google laptop more suited to getting students to concentrate on their school tasks and activities. But in terms of market share, Microsoft's Windows leads with 40 percent share, followed by Apple with 31 percent and Google comes in third with its 27 percent share in the education sector market.