Over the past few days, a couple of major companies have left Microsoft in favor of Apple products. First, Delta Air Lines announced that it would be deploying iOS devices for its flight crew soon, though Microsoft insisted that this transition was only taking place because of smaller standardized bag sizes. A couple of days later, General Electric unexpectedly revealed that it would be rolling out Apple devices to its workforce.
The bad news for Microsoft hasn"t quite stopped yet, as according to AppleInsider, Walmart intends to deploy approximately 100,000 Macs instead of Windows PCs. This announcement was made at the Jamf Nation User Conference, which is the world"s largest Apple-focused IT event.
According to Walmart"s Technical Expert, Miles Leacey, Windows PCs generate 60% of all support issues, in comparison to a much lower 40% on Macs. Furthermore, Leacy noted that Macs would result in an ""everyday low cost"", due to less expensive licensing fees, a higher percentage of users being satisfied with the product, and more. These calculations do take into account the fact that Windows PCs generally have a much lower upfront cost.
Walmart has noted significantly low support costs for its current Mac user base as well, which consists of about 7,000 users. Therefore, following Apple"s offer, the multinational retailing corporation is considering rolling out around 100,000 Macs the next year as part of an employee choice program.
No implementation dates have been outlined as of yet, but Walmart noted that it is currently in the process of researching a program that could potentially result in Mac becoming the default choice for new employees, given the Total Cost of Ownership savings.