Statistics from market intelligence firm IDC suggest that Mac’s market share grew significantly last year, from 5.8% in the first quarter to 7.7% in the fourth quarter.
However, the company said that a dramatic explosion in Chromebook sales during the year meant that ChromeOS convincingly kicked macOS into third place in the battle for the desktop OS …
Demand for affordable distance learning devices during the pandemic was responsible for a 400% increase in Chromebook sales, as market share increased from 5.3% in the first quarter to an impressive 14.4% at the end of the year. – almost twice the share of macOS.
GeekWire reports:
New figures show that 2020 was the first year that Chromebooks outperformed Macs, recording impressive market share gains at the expense of Windows. Google’s Chrome OS computers outperformed Apple’s in individual quarters before, but 2020 was the first full year Chrome OS came in second. Microsoft’s Windows still retained the majority market share, but it also suffered a major blow with Chrome OS and macOS gaining share.
The milestone is based on numbers provided by IDC, which typically does not split sales based on the device’s operating system. But when looking to see how the pandemic may have impacted the PC market, IDC analyst Mike Shirer confirmed the findings for GeekWire.
The piece suggests that it should serve as a “warning” to Apple, but this is a little stronger: Macs don’t compete with Chromebooks (with the possible exception of one or two ultra-premium models), and students who use the Apple kit are split between Mac and iPad, so it’s really comparing, uh, apples to oranges.
Chromebooks pose a greater threat to Microsoft, which has seen Windows market share drop from 87.5% to 76.7% over the year. How GeekWire notes, this is the first time that Windows has dropped to less than 80% in decades. Increasingly, those who previously bought low-cost Windows laptops are switching to Chromebooks or iPads.
Our sister site 9to5Google notes Microsoft’s planned response:
Microsoft is well aware of the Chrome OS threat and is preparing Windows 10X. A leaked version of the next operating system last month revealed a design, user experience and approach very similar to Google’s operating system. The operating system, originally for dual-screen devices before a revealing pivot, is expected to launch in the spring and targets education as well as business customers.
Of course, Macs will benefit from even greater demand over the course of this year as new models powered by Apple Silicon are launched.
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