Google
Chrome OS powered Chromebooks are Growing Strong like House Tyrell, Game of
Thrones Style!
This
based on the latest statistics coming out of analyst Gartner as reported in “Chromebooks
Sales Growing But Still A Drop In The Devices Ocean”, published 11.08.2014
by Natasha Lomas, TechCrunch, which you
can read online at their website as Competitive Landscape:
Chromebooks Worldwide.
I’ve
been keeping track of progress of Google Chromebooks ever since they launched
their Chrome OS with the first Cr-48 Chromebooks back in 2010 as noted in my blog article
entitled “Google
Chrome OS and Open Source - Star Wars A New Hope”.
The
latest Chromebooks I reviewed was the US$280 Toshiba
Chromebook CB35-A3120, which signaled their entry into the now very crowded
Chromebook ring as explained in my blog article
entitled “Toshiba
launches the US$280 Chromebook CB35-A3120 - Chrome OS’s cheaper and a sure bet
against Windows 8.1 Rising Tide as Apple prepare to go to Hybrid School”.
If
these sales numbers keep on increasing, Chromebooks will be well on their way
of tripling this year’s estimates to some 14.4 million by the year 2017 as will
be explained further on in my article.
Chromebooks Marketshare
– Less than 1% is a Slice of Rapid Sales Heaven for PC Makers
Now
Chromebooks marketshare is holding steady at some 5.2 million units expected to
ship for the entire 2014, a boost in sales of some 79% over 2013 figures.
Overall, analyst Gartner expects the following shipments for the year 2014:
1. 308
million PC i.e. laptops, desktops, ultramobiles and hybrids
2. 256
million Tablets
3. 564
million Computing Devices sold in total
That
means Google's Chromebooks counts for less than 1% of the total Computer Market
in terms of Shipments, most of which are for Enterprise and Corporate customers.
Please note however, this is shipments; Chromebooks have the highest sell-through
of any device and are hugely popular with Colleges and High Schools which
accounted for 85% of their sales in 2013.
Most
of those sales were in North American Region which accounted for up to 82% of
the 2.9 million sold in 2013. High School, Colleges and Universities, it seems,
like the idea of a lightweight Cloud Based Laptop that's cheaper than the
Average Laptop. And yes, it bears repeating; they're the most popular type of
computer on Amazon, which anyone can now see from a cursory search of their
Shopping portal!
Chromebooks the New
Netbook – Samsung is King of the Hill in the Chrome OS World
So
albeit they account for such a measly marketshare, they're hot sellers. PC
makers are drawn to this, as it means that if your company makes and ships a
100 Chromebooks for example, you stand to sell them all within a week at a
typical Wal-Marts Store and thus maintain your sales margins. Thus the Eight
(8) models released since 2014 started are clearly doing well right now.
Meanwhile
all those Laptop and PC's will probably site out a typical ninety (90) day
period before they eventually are put on Sale, a loss for PC makers as their
margins get slimmer. Faster turnaround sales are the name of the game people!
Chromebooks are a part of what I like to Call a Three Horse Race of Hot-Selling
products in what I like to call Mobile Computing Category:
1. Chromebooks
2. Hybrid-Laptops
formerly called Ultrabooks
3. Tablets
Chromebooks
are now being sold by every PC Maker along with the STILL red-hot Tablet Market
based on the stats from the IDC and NPD Group for the First Quarter of 2014 as
distilled in my blog
article entitled “IDC
and NPD Group record Tablet Decline and Phablet Rise - “White Box” Chinese
Tablets and Wearable Computing in First Quarter of 2014 making Tablets obsolete
in the Year of the Sheep”. This list of those PC Manufacturers who are
selling Chromebooks has its own pecking order based on 2013 sales:
1. 64.9%
marketshare goes to Samsung
2. 21.4%
marketshare goes to Acer
3. 6.8%
marketshare goes to HP
4. 6.7%
marketshare goes to Lenovo
5. 0.3%
marketshare goes to Dell
Good
to note here Samsung marketshare represents some 1.7 million units, which
suggests that the majority of Chromebooks being purchased by High School in the
US of A were made by Samsung. Samsung, it seems, is becoming the king of the
hill in the Chromebooks Category just as they're doing in the smartphone World
as noted in my blog article
entitled “IDC
Stats for Second Quarter of 2014 points to Asian Smartphone Rise – How cheaper
smartphones are slowly killing BOTH Apple and Samsung marketshare”.
Chromebooks Triple by
2017 – Apple iPad and Microsoft Surface Pro 3 readying for assault
With
this kind of competition from Tablets and the Google Drive Cloud based
Chromebooks driven by laptop makers seeking quick sales, what are Microsoft and
Apple doing to avoid this impending onslaught?
Microsoft
continues to focus on promoting their Microsoft Surface Pro 3, which finally
sports a Processor, Memory and SSD (Solid State Drive) Combination that can
handle REAL Work and do Video Games as described in my blog article
entitled “Microsoft
launches Surface Pro 3 - Microsoft's Surface Pro 3 puts Kibosh on Tablets with
Apple having to make a larger Keyboard iPad”.
Apple
is rumoured to have plans to launch a Apple iPad that not only sports a
Sapphire Screen with a TouchID Home button, but based on my estimates, will
also be packing a built in keyboard in the Magnetic Cover as I've prophesied in
my blog article
entitled “Apple
rumoured to be making a Laptop sized Tablet with a Built in Keyboard - Windows
8 Microsoft Surface and Chromebooks Barbarians after Bill Gates Rising Tide”.
Google
Chrome OS is still Growing Strong. At this rate, though, not only will Samsung
claim the Chromebooks Crown, but they'll be well on their way of tripling this year’s
estimates to some 14.4 million by the year 2017.
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