TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) — Definition & Context in B2B Laptop Rental

The total cost of owning an asset across its useful life — not just the upfront purchase price. For corporate laptops, a 3-year TCO includes purchase price + repair costs + IT support cost + refresh cycle + depreciation + disposal. A worked example for 50 laptops over 3 years: (a) buy path — 50 units × IDR 12M = IDR 600M CapEx + maintenance/parts IDR 60M/year × 3 = IDR 180M + downtime cost (avg 2 days/unit/year × IDR 300K) ≈ IDR 90M, total ±IDR 870M before counting IT support payroll; (b) DaaS path — IDR 360M/year × 3 = IDR 1.08B but already includes support, unit replacement, end-of-contract refresh, and zero internal IT overhead — the total flows through as OpEx. Comparing rental vs purchase TCO often changes the procurement decision — see the laptop rental price table for the monthly rates that feed the OpEx side. Renting looks 5–15% more expensive on raw numbers, but carries 0% hidden cost. Many finance directors underestimate hidden costs when buying office laptops.