IT Trends

Chromebooks Continue Massive Surge in Adoption

• By David Nagel
• 08/03/21

The adoption of Chromebooks appears to be outpacing the explosive growth predicted for the year. In the second quarter, Chromebook shipments grew 68.6% — and that wasn't even the best quarter of the last three quarters.

According to a new preliminary report from market research firm IDC, shipments of Chromebooks reached 12.3 million units in the second quarter of 2021, up 68.6% over the same period last year. There may be a bit of a slowdown on the horizon as component shortages (driven by the public policy response to the pandemic) lead manufacturers to push other types of systems.

According to IDC: "For Chromebooks, while still in high demand and even on backlog for many education deals, vendors have started prioritizing higher margin Windows laptops given the on-going component shortages."

No. 1 HP dominated the quarter in Chromebook shipments, more than doubling its numbers from the same quarter a year ago. HP shipped 4.3 million units in Q2 2021, capturing 35% of the market, up from 2 million units and a 27.4% market share in Q2 2020.

No. 2 Lenovo also saw remarkable growth, shipping 2.6 million units in Q2 2021 and capturing 21% of the market, up from 1.4 million and 19.6% last year.

No. 3 Acer increased volume as well but lost market share compared with last year. Acer shipped 1.9 million units (up from 1.5 million last year) for a 15.3% market share (down from 21.2% last year.

No. 4 Dell was in the same boat. Dell shipped 1.8 million units (up from 1.4 million last year) for a 14.5% market hare (down from 19.8% last year).

No. 5 Samsung saw the greatest percentage growth of the quarter. Samsung shipped 0.9 million Chromebooks, up 179.2% from the same period last year. Samsung captured 7% of the market in Q2 2021, up from 4.3% in the same period last year.

All other manufacturers totaled 0.9 million units combined.

Further details can be found in IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker.