Powered by Google’s handy Chrome operating system, laptops are excellent machines for students or just about anyone looking for a reliable and affordable laptop for everyday computer needs. The incredible growth that the Chromebook market is experiencing in Q3 2020 is proof of their usefulness in a world plagued by the COVID-19 pandemic. In this fourth quarter, the market quadrupled in the same period a year ago.

According to data compiled by research firm Channels, 11.2 million Chromebooks were shipped in the last quarter of 2020 alone – a big jump from the 2.9 million units in the last quarter of 2019. Similar to Q3 2020, HP led the growth in Q4 2020 by 3.5 million units.

Growth of the Chromebook market in 2020.

In total, shipments totaled 30.7 million units in 2020, a jump of more than 100% from the 14.7 million units sold in 2019. HP was the number one seller with 9.4 million units and a 31% market share. Lenovo and Dell took second place with a market share of 22% and 15% respectively. Samsung has grown by 400% annually, pushing Asus to take fifth place on the map with a market share of 6%.

This is what Rushabh Doshi, research director of Canalys, said about the rising growth of the Chromebook market in 2020:

Demand for Chromebooks is skyrocketing. As many countries are forced to accelerate their digital education plans following additional closures, schools and universities are looking for easy-to-implement solutions, and Google’s digital education offering is very popular on competitive platforms, especially the USA and Western Europe. As governments in many countries strive for a much-needed 1: 1 device and student relationship, demand for Chromebooks is expected to remain strong until 2021. In addition to education, there is also a growing interest from consumers and traditional commercial customers to search for Chromebooks to ensure affordable business or personal computer continuity.

What is particularly interesting about Chromebooks is that they will still potentially penetrate large markets like India. Thanks to the increasing availability of affordable internet – on which Chromebooks rely heavily – they can drastically increase their market share by entering new markets that were previously not as accessible or viable.