Chromebooks were slow to catch on, and why not – after all they were kind of like a laptop/notebook, but run on an operating system that amounts to what is an internet browser. People are like, “what the heck” is this thing, but yet fascinated by it because it was cheap and, as long as they had an internet connection, were able to word process, handle spreadsheets and create presentations/slide shows on Google Drive as well as do Gmail.
The Chromebook was once in a niche category that offered a notebook at a great price, but was hindered by their lack of applications and their dependence to an online connection to be truly useful. Samsung and Acer were the first vendors to support Google’s Chromebook – those two will try anything – and it worked out because Samsung has over 65-percent of the market share and Acer flows at 21.4-percent. Despite that drawback, our source tells us that Gartner expects sales to keep increasing at a tremendous rate – they expect sales to reach 5.2 million devices, which is up a whopping 79-percent from 2013! They also expect sales to nearly triple by 2017 to 14.2 million Chromebooks being sold…not bad for what started as a “niche” item.
As traditional PC sales continue to fall, Microsoft finds itself in a bad situation – they are trying to persuade users to purchase their Surface Tablet as an alternative, but they are so much more expensive than a Chromebook that especially the younger crowd that cannot afford a Surface are looking towards Chromebooks. Chromebooks have really improved their off-line capabilities and features that they now offer – coupled with their relatively low price, sales are accelerating.
One of the main reasons that Chromebook sales are increasing is due to the Educational sector, although businesses remain cautiously reluctant to welcome them into their fold – which is totally understandable, however, this too shall pass as vendors address several key areas. They need faster connectivity and faster memory access, as well as larger solid-state memory drives – not to mention just more support from Google and manufacturers to address the concerns of business, education and consumers.
There were some interest commercials about Chrome and Chromebooks on TV for a while, but they were more fluff than substance. They need to have media support that shows the actual device working so perspective buyers can visually see what a Chromebook is capable of doing. The study does site four specific industries that could use a Chromebook rather than a PC: Banking staff, financial services, real estate agents and hotel receptionists.
Please jump on our Google+ Page and let us know if your have used a Chromebook and your experiences with one – or are you looking to purchase one in the near future…as always, we would love to hear from you.