Google's Chromebooks outclassed Apple in sales numbers during the first quarter of 2016, marking a premiere for the United States.
IDC has reported that the operating system developed by Google has a better adoption rate than the one crafted by Apple, and noted that a specific market niche contributed to Chromebooks' surging success.
"Chromebooks are still largely a US K-12 story," Linn Huang, analyst at IDC, told The Verge.
According to calculations baked by IDC, Apple U.S. sent out about 1.76 million devices during the first quarter of the year. This means that the combined shipment quantity of Chromebooks rolled out by OEMs such as HP, Lenovo and Dell reached more or less 2 million devices.
The school system in the U.S. is the biggest client for Chromebooks, and the market analysis firm observed that the adoption rate of Chrome OS is increasing in the educational field. Reports from the end of last year mentioned that the Chromebook conquered more than 50 percent of educational tech market share in the United States.
IDC did not mention how the Chromebooks are faring in overseas market, though. This is because the company and its rivals (such as Gartner) use data and deliver output research from the United States only.
It should be noted that not all OEMs are seeing an upward spiral in sales. PC shipments are slowing down, which could make Microsoft weary of Google's success. IDC mentioned that a tiny revival of PCs' popularity will happen in the following months, as more users are aiming to get systems that are able to run Windows 10.
Chromebooks have all they need to continue being a challenge for Microsoft's widespread presence in the low-cost laptop market.
Android is said to join in the fight in full swing. At this week's I/O 2016 event, Google should let the media know about a slew of apps that will land on Chrome OS. The various software that is ready to expand Chromebooks' capabilities can put an additional selling point in the low-cost laptops, aside from the value-for-buck ratio.
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