PC vendor Acer Inc (宏碁) last quarter ranked first in the global Chromebook market, climbing from No. 4 in the same period of 2020, as it weathered an industry slump better than its rivals, International Data Corp’s (IDC) latest statistics showed.
Acer shipped 1.3 million Chromebooks in the quarter that ended on Dec. 31, falling 43.3 percent annually from 2.2 million units, IDC said.
That gave the company a 26.3 percent market share for the quarter.
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Dell Technologies Inc was second with 1 million units, a 63.6 percent decline from 2.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2020.
Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) seized third place with 800,000 units, dipping 73.5 percent year-on-year from 2.9 million units.
Global Chromebook shipments plummeted 63.6 percent annually to 4.8 million units in the final quarter of last year, from 13.1 million units a year earlier, IDC said.
“Much of the initial demand for Chromebooks has been satiated in primary markets like the US and Europe, and this has led to a slowdown in overall shipments. However, Chromebook demand in emerging markets has seen continued growth in the past year,” Jitesh Ubrani, research manager at IDC’s Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers, said in a statement.
“Supply has also been unusually tight for Chromebooks, as component shortages have led vendors to prioritize Windows machines due to their higher price tags, further suppressing Chromebook shipments on a global scale,” Ubrani said.
For the whole of last year, global Chromebook shipments expanded 13.5 percent to 37 million units, from 32.6 million in 2020, IDC said.
HP Inc defended its top position by shipping 10.2 million units last year, rising 9.3 percent from 2020.
China’s Lenovo Group Inc (聯想) ranked second with shipments of 8.3 million units, growing 23.4 percent from a year earlier.
Acer ranked third with shipments of 6.4 million units, rising 4.6 percent annually.
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