Report: Chromebook Sales Grew 13.5 Percent in 2021

The market researchers at IDC say that Chromebooks saw growth in 2021, while sales fell off a cliff in the fourth quarter because of the component crisis.

Overall, Chromebook shipments grew 13.5 percent year-over-year (YOY) in 2021 to 37 million units, but they plummeted 63.6 percent in the fourth quarter. At 37 million units, Chromebooks represent just under 11 percent of the total PC market, ahead of the Mac, with 27 million units and a 7.8 percent share.

“Much of the initial demand for Chromebooks has been satiated in primary markets like the U.S. and Europe, and this has led to a slowdown in overall shipments,” IDC’s Jitesh Ubrani said. “However, Chromebook demand in emerging markets has seen continued growth in the past year.”

But there’s another, more artificial, reason for the Q4 slowdown, IDC says: in search of more profits, hardware makers prioritized PCs.

“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 added. Given the razor-thin margins in the PC space, that’s saying something.

HP was the biggest seller of Chromebooks in 2021, with 10.2 million units sold, representing 27.7 percent of all Chromebooks and 9.3 percent growth YOY. Lenovo (8.3 million, 22.4 percent, 23.4 percent growth), Acer (6.4 million, 17.3 percent, 4.6 percent growth), Dell (5.4 million, 14.6 percent, down 5.2 percent), and Samsung (3.2 million, 8.8 percent, 77.2 percent growth) round out the top five.