The monopoly of Texas Instrument

It’s test day, and every single student pulls out a calculator from their backpack, each with a similar interface, the familiar Texas logo and the words “Texas Instruments” inscribed. The students simultaneously press the same familiar buttons on their calculators to reset the memory, and the teacher walks around checking the identical screens for confirmation, then passes out the test. Nationwide, the story is the same: students just won’t stop using Texas Instruments (TI) calculators. Yet globally, a diverse range of calculator brands from Casio, Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Sharp Calculators are seen. This United States-specific phenomenon is more complex than it seems and ties back to the history, outreach and the business strategies of the company.

With the market for calculators heavily focused on academic environments, there is a key player in the chain that influences which calculator millions of students buy: teachers. When teachers teach with TI calculators, students buy TI calculators.

“I use the TI graphing calculator because it's the top choice that my teachers use,” senior Jiadong Gu said.

 It’s extremely inconvenient for students to figure out how to perform a similar operation on a Casio while the teacher is teaching using a TI calculator. “I see more calculator diversity in Algebra, Geometry and Algebra 2 classes, but once graphing calculators become more necessary, I tend to see fewer brands outside of TI,” Geometry and AP Statistics teacher Zachary Blankers said.

But what is driving the teachers to teach TI surprisingly isn’t design or price.

“I do not think there are any meaningful differences in the capabilities between brands of calculators. Most differences are best described as minor button location differences, and minor logical differences for the order you press buttons,” Blankers adds.

Casio, for example, has similar or even better calculator models for a cheaper price. Yet, despite this, teachers still teach TI calculators by tradition.

“It's not a conscious choice: I teach using TI because my math teachers taught using TI, because their teachers taught them using TI,” Blankers adds.

As a result, a feedback loop of familiarity with the calculator is created.

“When a teacher suggests TI, it creates a familiarity so that when a student goes to buy their next calculator, they buy the brand they are familiar with. Those students eventually become teachers, who go on to suggest TI calculators to their students, and have TI calculators provided to their classrooms,” Blankers describes.

Instead, the dominance of the calculator can be widely attributed to historical reasons.

TI has provided teachers with free workshops and lessons on how to use their calculators, and ideas for integrating them into lessons. For decades, TI has been supporting educators with their training and resources. Even now, TI Education Technology continues to offer free online learning technology on their website, and summer workshops for teachers. Teachers became familiar with TI over all other calculators, and the process started.

Furthermore, with organizations like the College Board restricting brands of calculators on their exams, the market is further restricted, allowing longtime competitors like TI to continually dominate the market. New companies don’t stand a chance when their calculators cannot be used in exams or in classrooms.

Of course, like any monopoly, the effects of this monopoly stifle innovation and raise prices. Calculators last decades, and students don’t feel a need to switch very often. TI can raise prices because students don’t have a choice. That’s why for over two decades, students have been using the same TI-84 Plus calculator in classrooms and pressing the same buttons.