Businesses and consumers are looking for the best tools to work and learn at home.
Image: HP
Demand for Chromebooks continues to grow as families search for cheap computers for work and school.
Just over 11 million were shipped in the fourth quarter of last year, a total of 30.7 million shipped over the year (see chart below). And it’s not just Chromebooks that have sold fast: in the fourth quarter of 2020, computer shipments reached 143.7 million, up 35% from the same period last year, according to analysis firm Canalys. PC shipments grew by 17% to a total of 458.2 million units for the year, while businesses as well as consumers scrambled to find tools to work and learn while at home.
Canalys contains tablets in the analysis of computer shipments, but also tablet shipments, which achieved 52.8 million units in the fourth quarter, broke out. Apple iPads accounted for 19.2 million of total tablet shipments, up 41% from a year ago.
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Amazon shipped 6.5 million tablets, while Lenovo shipped 5.6 million of its tablets. Lenovo was the fastest growing, while Huawei experienced a 24% year-over-year decline. The strong investigative Chinese seller was the only company to see an annual decline in shipments. Overall, the tablet segment achieved 54% year-on-year growth.
It’s been a tough few years for Huawei, as the US continued to push allies to block its 5G network and Huawei also blocked access to US software, leaving its phones and tablets without core Google Android apps like Gmail and YouTube has.
Chromebook shipments were much smaller than tablet shipments and are led by HP, which shipped 3.5 million Chromebooks in the quarter by 235% year-on-year. However, Lenovo saw 1.766% growth in Chromebook shipments compared to last year, reaching 2.8 million units.
Lenovo’s Chromebook Duet 10-inch tablet was named the best Chromebook under $ 300 by ZDNet’s sister site CNET.
According to Canalys figures, Dell, Acer and Samsung also saw improvements in double and triple digits in shipments compared to a year ago. Chromebook shipments in Q4 were 287% higher than last year.
Global computer shipments, including tablets, dominated Lenovo with 28.8 million units shipped in the fourth quarter. Apple was in second place with 26.4 million units, followed by HP’s 19.3 million units, Dell’s 15.9 million units and Samsung’s 11.5 million units.
Overall, the computer industry grew by 35% for the year to 144 million units.
“Demand for Chromebooks is skyrocketing,” said Rushabh Doshi, research director at Canalys.
“As many countries are forced to accelerate their digital education plans following additional closures, schools and universities are looking for solutions that are easy to implement, and Google’s digital education offering is very popular on competitive platforms, especially in the US and Western Europe. ” Doshi said.
“As governments in many countries strive for a much-needed 1: 1 ratio between device and students, demand for Chromebooks is expected to remain strong until 2021. Apart from education, there is also a growing interest from consumers and traditional commercial customers to Chromebooks to ensure affordable business or personal computer continuity. ‘
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Chromebooks may be the most popular right now, but a new challenger is on the way in the form of Microsoft’s response to Chrome OS – Windows 10X.
Windows 10X is a lighter version of Windows that will appear on computers in 2021. Microsoft hopes it will be adopted by front-line workers and people in the education space. Initially, Windows 10X will be for Intel-based computers, but in the future, support from Arm is also expected.
