Chrome OS Now Second Most Popular Operating System In The World, After Surpassing MacOS, Thanks To Chromebook Lockdown Sales
Research house IDC has revealed that Apple’s macOS has slipped to third in the operating system rankings, after being overtaken by Google’s Chrome OS.
GeekWire first reported that IDC figures show that 2020 was the first year Chromebooks outperformed Apple Mac sales, recording impressive market share gains.
Indeed, IDC is not the only house of analysts to report the success of the Chromebook in 2020.
Market share
Canalys noted earlier this month that demand for Chromebooks, in particular, had ‘exploded’ as education markets moved to easy-to-deploy devices for distance learning during lockdowns across the world. .
Canalys also said the PC industry saw a surge in shipments in the fourth quarter of last year, thanks in large part to tablets and Chromebooks introduced to deal with coronavirus restrictions.
IDC, meanwhile, tracked operating system usage and found that Chrome OS, used by laptops powered by Google, took second place to MacOS for the first time.
Chromebooks now have a 10.8% market share, according to IDC.
But despite slipping to third place, that wasn’t bad news for Apple’s macOS wallet.
This is because macOS’s market share increased from 6.7% to 7.5% in 2020, which means that the biggest loser in 2020 was Microsoft Windows.
That said, the Windows operating system remains by far the most popular operating system, with 80.5% of the market.
The remaining 1.2% market share is made up of niche setups such as Linux distributions.
IDC’s numbers include desktops and laptops, but do not include tablets or smartphones.
Long burn
It should be noted that this is not the first time that the education industry has driven sales of Chromebooks.
In 2014, Gartner revealed that Google’s Chromebooks saw a big surge in popularity that year, having recorded their strongest sales year to date.
Chromebooks were released in late 2011, and right from the start they were meant to be much cheaper than traditional laptop options and are made by different companies including Samsung and Lenovo.
Chromebooks of course run Chrome OS, which is a web-based operating system that basically plugs into online apps, rather than running them on powerful local hardware.
