Nadiem Trial: IT Expert Says Rp 6 Million Chromebook Price is Excessive

An IT expert from Bhayangkara Jakarta Raya University, Mujiono, was presented by the public prosecutor in the trial of the alleged corruption case involving the procurement of Chromebook laptops and Chrome Device Management (CDM) today. Mujiono stated that the Rp 6 million price in the e-catalogue is excessive.

This was conveyed by Mujiono in response to the prosecutor’s question regarding the reasonableness of the Rp 6 million Chromebook laptop price at the Central Jakarta Corruption Court, on Monday (6/4/2026). Mujiono then responded by explaining the reasons why Chromebooks can be inexpensive.

“Expert witness, from the perspective of reasonableness of the price outlined in the manifest, is Rp 6 million reasonable in your opinion?” asked the prosecutor.

“Very well, perhaps I should explain a little first. Chromebook is actually a term for the operating system. So the hardware can be from brands like Asus, Acer, HP, and others. Now, why can it be cheap, in quotes? Because what’s stored inside the laptop is very minimal. So the software is very simple, perhaps only requiring a browser. Meanwhile, the Chromebook operating system is small, why small? Because communication is then with the cloud,” answered Mujiono.

Mujiono then explained the reasonableness of the Rp 6 million Chromebook price. He assessed that the Chromebook price is already excessive.

“If I look at current websites, meaning the position in 2025-2026, it’s between Rp 3 to Rp 4 million with the note that the display is 11 inches, storage 32 GB, processor type N4000 or N4020. So from e-commerce sites, the one with 12-inch display is Rp 1,850,000, the one with 32 GB storage is Rp 1,750,000. So assuming the price is Rp 6 million, there is already an excess,” he said.

Mujiono mentioned that procurement regulations for goods and services explain that the selling price posted in stores already includes profit. This means the price does not need to be increased from the store price.

“Because from what I studied, the procurement regulations for goods and services state that the goods or selling price posted in the store already includes profit, so the profit is already there. So there is no need to add profit again,” he said.

In this case, former Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Nadiem Makarim is charged with corruption related to the procurement of Chromebook laptops during his tenure as Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology. The project is said to have caused state losses of Rp 2.1 trillion.

Nadiem has filed an exception. The judge rejected the exception and requested that the trial proceed to the proof stage.