Ars Technica
For a long time, all annual reports on the market share of desktop operating systems had the same two main competitors: Microsoft’s Windows at number one and Apple’s macOS at a distant second. But in 2020, Chrome OS became the second most popular operating system and Apple dropped to third.
This is in line with figures from market data company IDC and a report on IDC data by the publication GeekWire. Chrome OS surpassed macOS briefly in individual quarters before, but 2020 was the first full year that Apple’s operating system came in third.
Although macOS came in third, seeing this as an example of how Google defeated Apple directly may not be accurate. Instead, Chrome OS is likely to have mainly driven Windows sales and market share at the bottom end of the market. The Mac’s market share actually grew from 6.7% in 2019 to 7.5% in 2020.
Meanwhile, Chrome OS skyrocketed from 6.4% in 2019 to 10.8% in 2020. Windows fell from 85.4% to 80.5%.
The trend seems to favor Google here, but 2020 is far from a normal year. Last month, IDC’s PC sales report showed the first year of consistent growth in sales of traditional PCs (desktops, laptops, workstations) in years. Even so, IDC indicated that the increase in sales was largely driven by the expansion of Chromebooks inside and outside the education market.
As students in many communities had to attend classes virtually from home and their parents had to work remotely as well, PC sales increased during the year. Chrome OS was a big part of that. But the entire market has grown in general, not just Chrome OS. IDC also noted that gaming PCs were a major driver of growth, in addition to a particularly strong year for the Mac in several use cases.
As part of the world may encounter a new type of post-pandemic normality or end of the pandemic later this year or next year, new sales figures will give a clearer indication of where things are going in the future, not just as they were in 2020 But, at least in the educational space, the future of Chrome OS looks pretty bright.