10 Years of Chromebooks: A Successful Bet?
10 Years of Chromebooks
2021 is a year of technological celebration. After reminding you of 43 years of spam, today we are talking about the 10th birthday of Chromebooks. In fact, ten years have passed since Google I / O 2011, during which the Mountain View company followed up on the rumors that followed one another since December 2010 and announced the first series of laptops that used the Chrome OS operating system, based on the Gentoo distro Linux. How will Google celebrate its 10th anniversary? How are Chromebook sales going in 2021?Google will not celebrate or, indeed, will do it in the best way for users: by implementing new features in Chrome OS. The developers are in fact engaged in testing new authentication methods and have signed a partnership with Parallels, which will bring Windows to the Chromebook. In addition, the main laptop manufacturers are offering more performing configurations, to satisfy a greater number of customers: this is the case of the Acer Chromebook Spin 514, the first Chromebook with an AMD Ryzen CPU. Acer is trying to bring HP and Lenovo closer together, which, as reported by Statista, are the undisputed leaders of the Chromebook market. According to the analysis and statistical research site Canalys, the estimated sales of Chromebooks in 2021 increased by 275%. An outcome that we had largely predicted.
The reasons for this success are also to be found in the effects of the pandemic, which have led to significant changes in the world of work and education. Education and training are a niche in which Chromebook manufacturers and Google itself have specialized, building partnerships with institutes and ministries and having a specific target audience in mind. "Chromebooks are now a mainstream computing product - says Brian Lynch, analyst at Canalys - While the education sector still accounts for the majority of shipments, their popularity among consumers and business customers has reached new heights over the last year". Rushabh Doshi, research director at Canalys, commented on these data on Zdnet: “With governments aiming for the necessary 1: 1 ratio between distance learning devices and students, demand for Chromebooks for education should remain strong until to 2021 ".
The pervasiveness of the internet and the evolution of technology, in particular the spread of SSDs, have made the Chrome OS" bet "an increasingly interesting reality for users. Google's choices have strongly influenced the success of Chromebooks. Unlike Android, where system updates are entrusted to smartphone manufacturers and their commercial volatility, Google has chosen to deal directly with system updates for Chromebooks. Therefore Google guarantees full support for 9 years to the “top of the range” Chromebooks. The costs of the top models, however, are significantly lower than those we are used to on laptops. This is the case of the Acer Chromebook 514, predecessor of the Spin, which we have extensively analyzed. In spite of an "uninspiring" technical data sheet, the Chromebook makes the most of the Intel Pentium N4200 processor with more than satisfactory performance at a cost of about € 370. We also suggest the Lenovo IdeaPad Duet, perfect if you want a 2-in-1 that can take advantage of the best qualities of the "two worlds": if Google will further improve Chrome OS for tablet mode, it could really be a best buy for the quality ratio. /price. Another possibility is the HP Chromebook X360 14, substantially superimposable to the Acer Chromebook 514. Finally, the best Chromebook for quality / price ratio is probably the Samsung Chromebook 4, thanks to the super-cheap cost of € 248.
In conclusion, Chromebooks can be a viable inexpensive alternative if you use your laptop for document management, streaming and web browsing, and the situation we find ourselves in has done nothing but further showcase the strengths of these products. If you also own an Android smartphone, Chrome OS could surprise you and give you a lot of satisfaction at a great price, thanks to the integration that exists between the two Google operating systems. If, on the other hand, you think your needs are different, we suggest some tips in our guide to the best laptops.
The Chromebook landscape is full of possibilities and alternatives, suitable for any need and pocket. On Amazon you will find a wide overview of the models on the market.
