IBM Finds Macs Cheaper Than PCs In The Long Run

Apple has always had difficulty breaking into the certain segments of the business market but that is all beginning to change. Apple has always had an advantage in some industries such as education, architecture, and other artistic related jobs. Other areas have been more difficult, especially the financial industry. Part of that, of course, was simply a matter of cost. But it is increasingly apparent that the true cost of ownership for an Apple may actually be cheaper.

Last year, IBM allowed its over 400,000 worldwide employees to choose whether they wanted to use a PC or a Mac. Already, nearly one-quarter of its global workforce has chosen to move to Macs and the company expects that number to continue to grow. But the company also found that supporting its Mac users was far less expensive than supporting its PC users. IBM discovered that PCs generated double the amount of support calls and cost between around $275 to $550 more to support over a four-year period than Macs. That comes to a minimum of around $7 million in savings each year for the existing 100,000 users. And, incredibly, all those IBM Mac users are supported by just 5 administrators.