EdTech has seen a steady rise in demand since the pandemic outbreak. As the education institutes faced forced shutdown, EdTech became popular. EdTech included numerous industries that were catering to the field of education.

The K12 sector led the market with a revenue of over 41% in 2020 and will continue to expand at a steady CAGR through 2028. With the advent of technology-based learning and gamification, there has been a rise in unconventional teaching and learning methods. Leading institutes, market players, and companies provide comprehensive solutions to their consumer base with app-based learning modules and thoughtfully curated content for the early childhood segments.

One such organization to come to the forefront is iPearl Inc.

iPearl Inc. is an EdTech company born out of the love and passion for Apple products of one engineering student of NC State – Haihui Huang.

Apple products have always been known for their matchless performance. Their smooth functioning and top-of-the-line OS have beckoned consumers of all age groups to use a range of Apple products at any point in time. However, you need equal-standing accessories to complement their performance and add to their aesthetic appeal with world-class products. Haihui Huang noticed this stark gap in the world-class products and their accessories. Knowing the gap was not enough; he wanted to address it for the benefit of others.

When Haihui Huang decided to be innovative and create something classy for the globally loved Apple products.

 “It is the power to be creative that drives people to innovate.” Says Haihui Huang, Founder and Owner of iPearl Inc.

If we talk about creativity, his career demonstrates creativity in action.

As The Story Goes…

A young student from Fudan University in Shanghai, China, knew about the excellent engineering program by NC State University that was both affordable and promising. It was an opportunity that Huang took advantage of as it was ‘sweetened by an assistant teaching position’ for which he is still grateful. And Huang got admission to the NC State Electrical and Computer Engineering program.

Huang was in the US and was headed for a Ph. D or a traditional programming job at some software organization- “writing somebody else’s code,” said Huang with a mischievous laugh.

Everything in life teaches you something, and in Huang’s case, it was the uncommon Knowledge of e-commerce that he gained while learning the futuristic engineering program at NC State.

iPearl was Born

Haihui Huang has been fascinated with Apple products ever since the first computer class with an Apple II computer. When this fascination blended with his deep knowledge of the product, he embarked on a more creative journey. Armed with the uncommon Knowledge of e-commerce gained from the future-friendly and adventurous engineering program at NC State, Huang laid the foundation of iPearl.

A Revolutionary Solution

As an Apple customer himself, Huang bought one of his first iPods at a young age. Since then, he has invested in over 10 iPods, from 1st generation iPod to iPhone, and over 10 Macs, including iBook, iMac, MacBook, PowerMac, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air, amongst others. He knew that these products were revolutionary pieces of technology and buying Apple products became not only a hobby but also his obsession.

Yet, the first products are always special.

So, when his first iPod- one with his MP3 collection, and his first Mac laptop- a white iBook G4, got some scratches and resembled other products, he took a trip to the local electronics store.

The trip to the store confirmed his doubt – “nobody was making affordable covers for these products. And if I could find accessories that I needed, they were dull as dirt and expensive.”

He thought about bridging the gap by offering affordable accessories for Apple products. He knew materials science and had a family member in the manufacturing business.

It was before Huang used his e-commerce expertise to market the inexpensive, tough, yet beautifully colored covers for laptops, iPods, and other similar devices.

Products that made iPearl, Inc. a global powerhouse. A revolutionary solution for revolutionary pieces of technology takes birth.

IPearl’s trademark product mCover® dominates the online market and is leading the laptop accessories on Amazon US and Europe.

The initial days

Initially, mCovers were designed for Mac laptops and are a short form of Mac Covers, but iPearl has spread its wings into Chromebook and PC laptops. Today, iPearl takes pride in its accessories collection for all major brands like Acer, Asus, Dell, Google, HP, Lenovo, Microsoft and Samsung among others.

The current scenario and special features of mCover®

Haihui Huang proudly reveals how iPearl has expanded its range and now offers protective, stylish hard-shell cases for tablets, ebooks, and Barnes & Noble Nook.

Sharing the specialties of mCover®, Haihui Huang revealed the following features —

1. mCover® are hard-shell cases custom designed as per the size of your Mac, PC, Chromebook laptops to fit them snugly.

2. mCover® offers 24/7 protection to your laptop computers.

3. Made from high-quality polycarbonate material, mCover® is 100% recyclable.

4. They are lightweight, sturdy, protective, stylish, and flexible.

The trends and the future

Talking about the trends shaping the future of iPearl, Haihui Huang said, “We expect more schools to embrace the new technology in the classroom, especially 1:1 deployment of tablet or laptop computers. iPearl Inc plans to offer more protective accessories to let students enjoy them worry-free.”

Speaking about the challenges, Haihui Huang said that the major challenge in the space is about varied focus in different schools. There is no single solution, aka – there is no ‘one size fits all solution. “At iPearl, we have a dedicated K12 team to work with numerous schools in close association to help them meet their expectations,”.

iPearl offers great deals for K12 schools and teachers, including discounted rates that vary depending on how many cases you order from iPearl. There is a bulk discount and two years of free spare parts like pads and feet for all K12 school orders beyond the standard 1-year warranty.

Interestingly, about 6,000+ K12 schools in the US are using mCover® custom fit hard cases for Mac, PC, and Chromebook. K12 schools in the UK also use mCover® to protect their laptops.

Attention to detail to make every client happy is the top priority at iPearl. And in that regard, iPearl Inc has released more than 400 custom-fit hard-shell cases for Mac, PC, and Chromebook laptop computers. These covers and cases with the ‘ergonomics’ design are lightweight and stylish while offering adequate protection.  

“We strive to offer useful protective products which should look stylish and like an integrated companion to those computing devices.” Says Haihui Huang, Founder and Owner of iPearl Inc.,

Testimonials from the customers say it all for the organization that strives to put customer satisfaction at its top priority.

As an organization, iPearl has worked with HP and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) in North Carolina to offer about 100,000 units of custom-fit mCover® cases. Each case has a CMS logo printed on them. “This was the largest Chromebook deployment globally,” added Huang. The best part of the deal was delivery before the deployment schedule.

Undoubtedly, the competition is fierce for the EdTech market, yet iPearl Inc has been adding new users year on year as we release more and more new models every month.

“Also, iPearl has more than 400 models of products at Amazon Fulfillment Center around the world, which can be delivered to Amazon customers within two days for FREE with the Amazon Prime membership. So far, no competitors can offer a similar array of products. In 2022, iPearl Inc is proud to serve the 5,000,000th users in the USA market with 129,000 positive reviews at Amazon and Europe, China, Japan, and Australia market,” added Huang.

IPearl Inc products will always be in demand with a bright future ahead. If there is a hunger to learn new things, there will be technology requirements in terms of computers, laptops, and iPads, among other things. And then there will be a requirement to protect those gadgets, and that’s where iPearl Inc has stepped in and offered new products as per the requests and trends.

While talking about the trends, Huang pointed out that they offered about 28,000+ units of free samples to K12 teachers in the US, and the organization has served about 6,000 K12 schools in the US so far.

iPearl is a pearl in an ocean of opportunities to give back to the community

But there is more to the story of iPearl becoming a success, and the products became the most in-demand products in the market.

iPearl believes in giving back to the community, and the electricity in their office and factories comes from the solar system installed by NC Solar Now. They aim to reduce the energy impact used by iPearl to create world-class yet affordable products.

Talking about their legacy of giving back to the community, Huang revealed that he had further extended his legacy by sponsoring the naming rights of the iPearl Immersion Theater – one of the most shining jewels of the James Hunt Jr. Library named after former NC governor James Baxter Hunt, who was the 69th and 71st Governor of North Carolina(1977–1985, and 1993–2001) and is the longest-serving governor in the state’s history.

As Huang said, “iPearl Immersion Theater is located at the highly visible spot within the Library Grand Hall. It features some of the most powerful technology in a building filled with technology.”

With a twenty-one-foot-wide curved, ultra-high-resolution display wall and a state-of-the-art sound system, the theater will engage viewers in some of the most powerful educational experiences that can be found at NC State. The theater will feature an ever-expanding range of media content, including imagery and video generated by faculty and students through teaching and research.