Update: Lenovo has reached out to various sources to clarify that the withdrawn designation for the 1080p variant of its Yoga Chromebook C630 in the US and Canada is temporary and that Chromebook will be back in stock “very soon.”
Lenovo seems to be looking to limit the availability of the FHD variants of its Yoga Chromebook C630 in the US and Canada by driving sales of the 4K version by withdrawing the 1080p configuration from those markets. That’s based on chat conversations captured by one Reddit user which were picked up by the media, alongside evidence found on Lenovo’s official Product Specifications Reference (PSREF) pages.
While the chat informed a user that Lenovo would no longer be selling the more budget-friendly configurations of its premium Chrome OS laptop in the US and Canada, the listing effectively confirms that. On the PSREF site, both models associated with the 1080p display and regions in question — 81JX0004US and 81JX0007UX — are shown in red. The reference provided at the bottom of the listing shows indicates that means they are being withdrawn from the region and will be added to Lenovo’s “Withdrawn Products section” in the near future.
The devices are still listed in the two regions as being available with a 4K 3840 x 2160 display configuration and all that entails. The 1080p variant is also set to remain available in other regions where the gadget has launched but will no longer be made available in the US and Canada.
What’s behind the decision?
For the time being, there are and will be some FHD Lenovo Yoga Chromebook C630 laptops still available at various locations — and that will likely remain the case for regional retailers where supplies remain. Best Buy, for example, still has one on sale that doesn’t feature the standard backlit keyboard in place on other variants, so this is only affecting direct sales for the time being.
There’s no clear indication as to why sales would be brought to an end for the two devices either since offering buyers more choice and variety would typically be considered a way to bolster sales. It may be that the Chrome OS gadget simply didn’t sell well in the two regions in the now delisted configuration or the OEM may be looking to revamp sales of its 4K variant by removing a product. If the 1080p version is cannibalizing on the sales of the 4K offering, it might make sense to limit the latter’s availability.
Lenovo hasn’t put forward any reasoning for the move beyond listing the device as “temporarily unavailable” at each region’s respective online shop.
What’s left?
What that means for buyers in the US is that they’ll only have access to the 4K variation of the device that landed near the beginning of February. That’s the most powerful version of the Lenovo Yoga Chromebook C630 launched so far, touting an eight-generation quad-core Intel Core i5-8250U with a base clock of 1.6GHz and a turbo boost of up to 3.4GHz with a 6MB cache.
Behind the top-tier processor, the gadget also ships with 8GB DDR4 2400MHz memory and storage at 128GB. An Integrated Intel UHD Graphics 620 chip for handling visuals is part of that package as well, making the configuration that’s still available — starting at $899 — one of the most high-performance Chromebooks at well below the cost of a comparable Pixelbook.
As with its lower-resolution counterpart, that’s a 15.6-inch IPS panel on a 2-in-1 platform with a 360-degree hinge.
For battery life, conservative usage will allow for up to 10-hours on a single charge with a full charge taking right around an hour and a half.
A backlit keyboard is standard on the most performance-ready Lenovo Yoga Chromebook C630 too. Two USB 3.1 Type-C ports, as well as a single USB 3.1 standard USB port, Kensington lock slot, micro SD card reader, and 3.5mm headphone jack, are part of the package alongside two well-tuned stereo speakers can be found on the bottom. That’s all packed into an all-metal midnight blue frame.
