Laptops running Google Inc’s Chrome OS were the top three best-selling computers on Amazon.com in the US ahead of Christmas, with the top two spots going to Chromebooks made by Taiwan’s top two computer makers Acer Inc (宏碁) and Asustek Computer Inc (華碩).
According to Amazon’s listing based on sales from Nov. 1 to Dec. 19, the No. 1 seller was the 11.6-inch Acer C720 Chromebook, followed by the 13.3-inch Asustek Chromebook C300 and the 11.6-inch HP Chromebook 11.
In 2013, Chromebooks took two of the top three spots, with a Samsung Electronics Co model taking the top spot an Acer model ranking third.
New data from market intelligence firm ABI Research show that worldwide shipments of Chromebooks, which emphasize Internet connectivity more than traditional Windows-based computers, were forecast to reach 4.1 million units last year, almost double the 2.1 million units shipped in 2013.
The top three Chromebook vendors — Acer, Samsung and Hewlett-Packard Co — accounted for 74 percent of shipment share during first half of last year, ABI Research said.
According to Digitimes Research’s latest findings from the supply chain, Acer is set to launch a 15.6-inch Chromebook based on Intel Corp’s Broadwell-U chip in March, while Dell Inc is planning to launch a 15.6-inch Chromebook with similar specifications in the first half of the year.
The two new larger and more powerful Chromebooks, which might be priced under US$300, are expected to be very competitive in the market, Digitimes Research said.
However, Asustek might have made lower-than-expected shipments of its low-cost EeeBook laptop in the fourth quarter last year, due to competition from tablets and smartphones, Digitimes Research said.
Only about 200,000 units of the EeeBook X205 were shipped in the fourth quarter, the Taipei-based research firm said in a report issued on Tuesday.
The 11.6-inch clamshell notebook runs on Microsoft Corp’s Windows with Bing operating system on an Intel chipset and is priced at US$199.
Digitimes Research said that if the inexpensive product with limited functions is unable to find a new business model to boost sales, it might fail to compete with low-cost Chromebooks.
According to statistics from Digitimes Research, Asustek’s first Eee PC netbook was launched in the fourth quarter of 2007, and 700,000 units were shipped that quarter.
Asustek’s 10.1-inch Transformer Book T100 detachable 2-in-1 device, priced at US$260 on Amazon.com, was expected to see shipments of 400,000 units in the fourth quarter of last year, the data showed.
“Compared to them, the EeeBook X205’s performance has been rather unsatisfactory,” Digitimes Research senior analyst Joanne Chien (簡佩萍) said.
With the exception of display size, touchscreen features and exterior design, the X205 and T100 have similar specifications, with both featuring Intel’s Atom Z3745 processor and 32GB internal storage capacity, Chien said.
Despite similar performance and being 30 percent cheaper, the X205 has still been outperformed by the T100 in unit shipments, showing that the inexpensive low-specification traditional notebook is no longer able to attract consumers in a market that is filled with tablets and smartphones, she said.
By contrast, Acer’s 11.6-inch Chromebook C720 — last year’s best-selling Chromebook, which sells at US$215 — is expected to have shipped more than 400,000 units quarterly during the second half of last year, Chien added.
She said the business model for the C720, which is bundled with education software and service solutions, has become a new direction for traditional clamshell notebooks to boost sales.
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