Based on the findings of a student-focused research firm called Student Monitor, CNN has reported that Apple has toppled other leading laptop manufacturers – Dell, HP, Toshiba and Sony – to emerge as the top-ranking consumer choice for students; followed by Dell and HP in the second and third spot respectively.

Going by the statistics put forth by Student Monitor, as many as 83 percent of the students use a laptop, vis-à-vis only about 24 percent of them using a desktop. While 27 percent of the laptop-using students owned a Mac; 14 percent of the desktop users owned an iMac product; and 45 percent owned either an HP or a Dell system.

It is interesting to note that, as per the figures, the number of students using the Mac operating system still lags behind the number of students using the Microsoft Windows system, largely because most of the leading manufacturers offer Windows in their OEM bundle.

Thus, other than pointing the stark reality in the student laptop arena, the Student Monitor research has also apparently underscored the spilt between Mac and PC, as well as the Mac and Windows.

Commenting on the figures, analyst Trip Chowdhry said: “Our research is indicating that Microsoft is unable to connect with the new generation of users. This could cause problems down the road when these students enter the work force and once again pick Macs over Windows.”