Google is bringing Android apps to Chrome OS to make its Chromebooks an even more attractive option for laptop buyers, but it turns out they’re already doing pretty well. For the first time ever, Chromebooks are now outselling Macs in the U.S.
In recent years, Macs have somehow thrived as PC sales decline around the world — but Apple isn’t the only one who can brag now. During the first quarter of 2016, shipments of Chrome OS devices overtook Macs in the U.S., according to the latest data from IDC.
That’s thanks mostly to schools, which are buying Chromebooks by the bucket load because they’re super affordable, and incredibly easy to use and maintain — unlike iPads, which are pricey, require additional software, and need to be updated every so often.
Dell, HP, and Lenovo shipped almost 2 million Chromebooks combined in the U.S. last quarter, according to IDC estimates, while Apple shipped just 1.76 million Macs. However, it’s unclear how many Chromebooks were shipped in other markets, since IDC focused solely on the U.S.
IDC expects Chromebooks to continue selling well in the coming months thanks to an uptick in sales in the U.S., and Google’s decision to add the Google Play Store and full Android app support is only going to provide a bigger boost.
Via: The Verge
Killian Bell is a freelance writer based in the U.K. He has an interest in all things tech and also covers Android over at CultofAndroid.com. You can follow him on Twitter via @killianbell.
6 responses to “Google Chromebooks are outselling Macs for the first time”
So, 150-200$ devices are outselling 900$+ MacBooks ? Seriously ? Wow, shocking…
I have to say, Killian, most of your articles do have sensationalism feeling… Think about it.
My god you are such fan boys! he is comparing chromebooks to macbooks… they are both laptops… they are both used in the education sector… and in the home…
Are you missing the point that the chromebooks are addressing the downturn in the market by producing high quality laptops that are able to do the job required at very reasonable prices…
Whilst Apple continue to churn out expensive devices and are starting to see their market share and q on q sales slipping to the chromebooks.
Just incase you think I am an apple hater, I might add that I am typing this on a fully specced macbook pro 15.6″ 1Tb ssd 32gb macbook that cost me nearly £3000. the point he is making is that the market is starting to swing in another direction and that perhaps Apple need to look at their options and invent the next big thing… A cloud based laptop that is able to run apps and also has its own OS… all for a more reasonable price tag.
The thing that we should all be attacking is not that Killian is comparing the $150-$200 devices to $900 devices, but more importantly that we are forced to pay $900 for the Apple devices.
Hopefully companies in China like Xiaomi who have shown in the mobile phone market, what can be achieved quality wise for a reasonable price, will do similar when they launch their upcoming range of laptops (at the moment the spec to price ratios that are being rumoured look very very good).
And if they do come out at great prices and specs with a half decent design… my next hope will be that the hackintosh community will be able to get a good stable build of oSX running, if they do then my next Macbook will probably not be a macbook!
I can see the appeal. I was going to give an old iPad to my parents but ended up buying them a cheap Chromebook since most of their PC experience was using Google Chrome for web browsing/email so they were already familiar and it would be easier for me to remote in to fix stuff; it’s always updated; they wouldn’t be able to figure out how to install anything harmful, etc. Although now with the Android store coming to the Chrome OS, I might have to reconsider, lol….
Yeah, well… keep on comparing selling a 200$ laptop with a 900-2500$ one… It’s the same as you compare Android with iPhone. Android is installed on SO many phones, different phones, that were made by different manufacturers; while iPhone is being made only by Apple.
errr why not compare iphones to androids? they are both mobiles with app supported operating systems.
The argument is often used in apples favour when it comes to the justification of low end components and memory (ram and rom), Apple are able to much better optimise their OS to run on their own handsets.
(although it also allows them to make your devices that were running fine, obsolete by making you upgrade to the new OS version to gain half of the new versions features at a cost of most of your devices previous fluidity and speed lol), then when you find that you are unhappy with your new OS you are stuck as you cannot roll back or flash a custom rom on your device… But at least you don’t have fragmentation in your OS versions (unlike all those poor less fortunate android owners that are able to stay with the version of the OS that runs best on their devices, or flash one of those horrible custom roms that has been tweaked and fettled to get the very most out of their hardware by a united community of coders).
So lets not compare what others are doing to Apple in any way that does not shed a positive light or spin towards the Almighty!
(disclaimer, typed on a macbook, checked daily on my Xiaomi MI5)
Proper keyboard. Big (relative) selling point.