Tablets vs Chromebooks: an unexpected year
So much for the Post-PC Revolution! Despite all the hype of tablets and their obvious benefits and use scenarios, the demise of traditional computing form factors seems to have been exaggerated. Never mind that 2014 will probably see over 250 million tablets shipped and sold, tablet sales are actually slowing. Analysts predict that Apple will probably face a year-long ipad sales dip, though it's hard to say what the effect of the most newly-released models will have.
But just as surprising, sales of Chromebooks have actually surged over the last two quarters. Gavin Clarke at the Register points out recent research that projects a doubling of the Chromebook market year on year, with HP, Samsung and Acer taking the lion's share of the market. They still represent a small share of the market, with only 4 million units shipped (of 300m convential PCs in total), so it's too soon to say the Chromebook revolution is here.
But it does show surprising potential in the traditional laptop form factor, and give some reason to wonder if, despite all the hype about tablets, phablets, and smart phones, consumers still find themselves reaching for a portable device with a great keyboard.
But just as surprising, sales of Chromebooks have actually surged over the last two quarters. Gavin Clarke at the Register points out recent research that projects a doubling of the Chromebook market year on year, with HP, Samsung and Acer taking the lion's share of the market. They still represent a small share of the market, with only 4 million units shipped (of 300m convential PCs in total), so it's too soon to say the Chromebook revolution is here.
But it does show surprising potential in the traditional laptop form factor, and give some reason to wonder if, despite all the hype about tablets, phablets, and smart phones, consumers still find themselves reaching for a portable device with a great keyboard.
But I suppose keeping my old phone is for the best, as Google just keeps making it harder and harder to make a phone call on Android. Several additional unintuitive steps needed to add a recent number to the contact list, much more difficult to switch between recent calls, the dialer, and your contacts, and absolutely NO WAY to EDIT your contacts from the dialer... You can create one there, but if you make a mistake, you must switch to a different program entirely. This is a complete regression. [/rant]Actually, at least Acer's Chromebooks are just older models of cheap Windows laptops they previously sold. Maybe the Windows tax makes a huge difference in low-end hardware, or maybe Google's mega advertising for a tiny number of products gets them exposure they wouldn't have as low-end Windows laptops.