Intro:
I recently checked Google Analytics 4 (GA4) data from Google Bigquery for Crafts-Women.com. I was surprised to find so many Chromebook users. I had an HP Chromebook many years ago. The price definitely enticed me to purchase it. It was tiny and light, and no fan. It used a single-core CPU that wouldn't have survived running more than a web browser. Which was brilliant because Chromebook was just that. I basically could only run Chrome web browser on it.
History:
Google and its partners (Acer's and Samsung) founded a new segment in the heavily saturated personal laptop market in 2011. Its target market was light computer users, and just like Android OS, Google could white label the Chromebook OS to other companies like HP, Samsung, and Lenovo. In 2011, Acer and Samsung introduced their first Chromebooks to the market. Others, including Google, entered the market in 2013. With brand and product exposures from the Google and Chrome browser, Chromebook quickly caught on.
Fast forward to today, Chromebook is more than just a laptop. With so much improvement and the availability of cloud-based software, it can handle almost anything you need for personal use (in some cases, you can use it for work).
Chrome browser market share was just above 3% in 2009 but increased to 16% by 2011 (US - desktop). In 2021, nearly 60% of web surfers used Chrome. But using a web browser alone was never enough to satisfy users. Perhaps Chromebook was a complementary product to the Chrome browser or vice versa (or both).
Cloud age:
For many decades Microsoft monopolized personal computing by introducing Microsoft Office products. Chromebook was not powerful enough for gamers, and it was not meant for users to download third-party apps. As the market moved furiously towards Cloud computing and storage, Google went into an acquisition frenzy just before introducing Chromebook. I remember Chromebook included open-source products like LibreOffice to fill the void of missing Microsoft Office.
With faster internet speed and bandwidth, the cloud age emerged quickly around the same period. Today, many users rely on cloud products to store and compute. With so many cloud computing and storage improvements, we no longer rely on local hard drives to save or back up data and files. It makes more sense than ever to consider Chromebook. Even Microsoft introduced a similar concept called Windows RT in 2012, a Windows OS mobile version. Although Windows RT didn't receive much love, Microsoft 365 received favorable reception, and many of us use it.
The actual game changer for Chromebook happened when Google introduced a Google version of Microsoft Office. Google products like Google Docs and Sheets have come a long way, and we now have many loyal followers. Now, you can use Chromebook to do everything you usually do with a personal laptop.
Where does Chromebook go from here?:
Chromebook can continue to grow, as they did during the pandemic. Many people bought Chromebook during the pandemic for personal use. More people spent time at home, and the demand grew. Not surprisingly, post-pandemic has reduced the market significantly. Global shipment of Chromebooks had increased from 17 million units in 2019 to over 37 million units in 2021. The total shipment decreased to 29+ million units in 2022, but experts believe the shipment numbers could remain high for many years. One of the reasons is the improvement in usability thanks to cloud computing and storage. Many light computer users would only need inexpensive computers when most apps are cloud-based.
Expansion:
Additional growth can come from the high-end market. Samsung and others introduced better-quality Chromebooks in recent years. It still would not match your conventional laptop in terms of performance, and why would you need it to match it? However, these high-end Chromebooks have higher resolutions, better screen quality, screen touch capability, and more. Regarding the pricing, it still makes sense for buyers who would be satisfied with what Chromebook offers yet willing to pay extra for better quality.
It will be interesting to see how things will change in the next five to ten years. We could see a shift in the macro environment, as we have seen throughout the pandemic. Shortages of microchips changed the market dynamics past several years, and we will find out how it will change as many countries started investing heavily in the semiconductor industry. Could we see some surpluses in microchips in the future? If so, could we see some more changes in personal laptops?
Furthermore, consumer preferences and usage could change in the near future. What if Chromebook becomes a standard work laptop? Apple has been pushing to take some market share from Microsoft in recent years. Many tech companies use Apple laptops, but Microsoft still dominates the market. The real problem for Microsoft is the cloud business. Google could make Chromebooks more robust to compete in the enterprise market. That could also help Google increase cloud-based product adoption.
Comments
Post a Comment