Sign in / up

back to article Android, Chromebooks storm channel as Windows PC sales go flat

Despite all the carping about the slumping PC market, it really wasn't such a bad year for channel computing sales, with devices based on Google technologies pulling ahead as the clear winners. According to the latest numbers from market analysis firm NPD, overall sales of desktops, notebooks, and tablets through the channel …

COMMENTS

House rules Send corrections
This topic is closed for new posts.

Page:

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Chromebooks

    Having been to a bunch of stores to do Christmas shopping recently, I can't begin to count all the prefab Chromebook displays I've seen. They are being pushed heavily. I've never seen anybody actually LOOKING at them, but they're there and it doesn't surprise me that people are buying them. The silver Samsung Chromebook looks just like a MacBook Air from 5 feet away, same shape/size/weight/color at one fifth of the price. Not bad if all you're going to do is look at some web pages.

    3 1
  2. saif

    Landfill included?

    I suspect that the stats do not include the majority of the unbranded tablets that appear to dominate the e-stores at least in the UK.

    1 0
  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Lots of champagne bottles opened at the NSA and GHCQ...

    ... when the news about Chromecrooks sales reached them. Why bother to reach data on users devices when the willingly share them with world+dogs?

    4 6
    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Lots of champagne bottles opened at the NSA and GHCQ...

      How fast the Googlebot to downvote.... keep your data safe on your devices, don't sell them to Google & C. just because a device and its applications are cheap or "free". You're paying with your data, remember.

      4 4
  4. Captain Obvious

    Sigh

    No one sees the obvious here? Android tablets will outsell everything as you can pick them up for around $50 USD. These are throwaway devices as they perform poorly but are given to kids to use instead of an expensive iPad, laptop, etc. All I see is more stupid junk devices going to the landfill.

    1 4
    1. feanor
      Reply Icon

      Re: Sigh

      Yeah, I keep telling my neighbour that his Golf GTI performs so poorly, its a hunk of junk that he should just get crushed right now. Then he can buy something decent like my Ferrari.

      </Sarcasm>

      See the thing is, these things only have to perform well enough to fulfill their stated purpose. And they clearly do. So while you may be able to afford the latest super duper turbo iPad

      to dismiss all these other products because they don't perform like yours is frankly the abject stupidity of someone with more money than sense.

      2 0
  5. Chairo
    FAIL

    A good lesson...

    ...how to destroy your market with too much greed and a bad strategy.

    Both, Microsoft and Intel had this market cornered with the netbooks. Microsoft didn't like the low margin for the netbook flavour of Win7 and Intel wanted to push ultrabooks, so they both killed the netbook market with their imposed limitations. (800x600 screen resolution, 2GB memory limit, 32bit only CPU, ...).

    Now someone else filled the gap and they lost their market share. Too bad, isn't it?

    Ironically these cheapo tablets manage to deliver acceptable performance with similar or even worse hardware, than the netbooks had.

    7 1
  6. Himalayaman

    I wonder how many people will be amazed that their brand new Chromebook is basically a paperweight, albeit a rather cheap one.

    2 6
  7. Martin Maloney
    Go

    Up and coming

    There's a deluge of Android tablets coming in from China. They're cheap, and they're not junk.

    Go to eBay, type in irulu, and see examples for yourself.

    Top-of-the-line is a 9.7" iPad lookalike and workalike. Dual core 1.5 GHz CPU, Android 4.2.2, 8 GB NAND, 1 GB DDR3 RAM, 10-point multi-touch capacitive screen, 6000 mAh battery. Clamshell case with keyboard. Resolution is 1/4 of the iPad -- "only" 1024 X 768, which was the default resolution of 17" (16" actual) CRT monitors. Google Playstore. One year warranty.

    Are the specs as good as those of the iPad? Nope. Are they good enough? Yep.

    And it's only $140. Add $25 for a 32 GB micro SD card, and laugh at the iPad fanbois and their empty wallets.

    You'll also find 10.1", 9" and 7" tablets, at even lower prices. Given the state of the world's economy, these tablets are gonna be big news in the channel this year.

    BTW, I have no economic connection to the manufacturers or to the vendors.

    2 1
  8. John Doe 6

    So "The Year of Linux on the Desktop"...

    ...has finally arrived ?

    ...after "The year of Linux on the phone" and "The year of Linux in the TV-set" and "The year of Linux in the fridge".

    2 0
    1. feanor
      Reply Icon

      Re: So "The Year of Linux on the Desktop"...

      And Linux on virtually all of the top 500 Supercomputers, Linux in Vehicle ECU's, Linux in the TiVo sets, Linux in Tablets, Linux in Smartwatches, Linux in ADSL Routers and Wireless Access Points, Linux in NASs, Linux in Satellites, Linux in Linux in etc, etc, etc

      Linux is everywhere, in all the devices we all depend on, because it is affordable, stable, reliable, customisable, optimizable, maintainable, secure, and it is all of these things because it is Open.

      However because it has not yet broken into the desktop market (where brand loyalty, blind inertia and picking the devil you know are massive factors) apparently it is rubbish and a failure.

      Go figure.

      3 0
  9. W. Anderson

    To Andy Prough, CCCP and all the other delusional commenters here - all the irrational arguments and vitriol expressed won't change "facts on the ground". Windows tablets and smartphone sales are weak and continually falling behind Apple and Android brands. That is "fact". By all means continue to chose, use and love your Microsoft devices as if your life depended on it.

    However the world moves on, with recent Apple and China Mobile agreement to sell 600 MILLION tablets in Asia, the Samsung and Intel "joint venture" introduction of Tizen Linux based tablets in 2014, and the combined Huawei and ZTE (total one BILLION plus Asian, African and South American customers at present) flooding the world market with all ranges - in quality and price - of Android tablets soon, Microsoft will need all the help it can get in their loyal supporters shelling out for much less popular products. Windows PC dominance is a sad history.

    2 0
  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Desperate for a plan B

    It seems to me that people are trying very hard not to buy a Windows 8 machine.

    Chromebook isn't ideal but it cheap & user friendly.

    Its doing well because of the lack of options.

    1 0
  11. arctic_haze
    Thumb Up

    Actually Win 8 is a decent OS

    especially after you replace it with your favourite Linux distribution.

    1 0
  12. RyokuMas

    Yet to see...

    ... a Chromebook in the wild.

    I did actually see a Surface being used a few weeks back - chap in the Morrisons that just opened down the road from me was doing some kind of of inventory on it.

    Probably had it foisted on him by the higher management - really can't see it being a BYOD, somehow.

    1 0
  13. Livinglegend

    Not exactly

    It is only the figures for the US. The rest of the world buys differently to one single country, which makes the figures look very suspect as a way of informing people of sales. It is the equivalent to using one companies figures to say that all companies have the same financial results.

    Highly misleading, unless you are made aware of the difference. Poor reporting by El Reg for once.

    0 0

Page:

This topic is closed for new posts.

Other stories you might like