Global Chromebook shipments plunged 48 percent year-on-year to 19.2 million units last year, as consumers tightened their belts amid an economic downturn, International Data Corp (IDC) said in a report on Friday last week.
Total shipments plummeted to 19.2 million units from 2021, when sales surged 180.5 percent year-on-year to 36.9 million units, bolstered by demand for remote learning at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, IDC said.
Fourth-quarter shipments declined 24.3 percent from a year earlier to 3.6 million units, marking six straight quarters of declines, as PC sales came under pressure from weaker work-from-home and online learning demand as the COVID-19 pandemic eased, IDC data showed.
Photo: Bill Chen, Taipei Times
Even though the pandemic has brought about positive changes to Chromebook adoption and market watchers believe such devices would continue to play a fundamental role in education, consumer spending has weakened in the face of a slowing economy and still-high inflation worldwide.
“While Chromebooks have faced a tough few quarters, the excess channel inventory that had built up is starting to subside and could potentially lead to more normalized growth in the coming quarters as back-to-school season returns,” IDC mobility and consumer device research manager Jitesh Ubrani said in a statement.
“However, any traction that Chromebooks made outside the education sector will continue to suffer, as the economy stalls and as tablets and PCs supplant Chrome-based devices,” Ubrani said.
PC vendor Acer Inc (宏碁) last year ranked first in the global Chromebook market, although the company only shipped 4.2 million units, 33.8 percent less than a year earlier, IDC data showed.
That gave the Taiwanese firm a 22 percent market share in the year, up from 17.3 percent in 2021.
Dell Technologies Inc was second with shipments of 4.1 million, down 24.3 percent from the previous year, for a market share of 21.3 percent.
Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) placed third with 3.7 million units, dipping 54.4 percent year-on-year, for a market share of 19.5 percent.
HP Inc ranked fourth, with shipments of 3.5 million units, down 65.6 percent, followed by Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), which shipped 1.3 million units, 20.9 percent less than in 2021, IDC data showed.
The two secured market shares of 18.4 percent and 6.8 percent respectively, IDC said.
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