Apple’s Laptop Sales Behind Google’s, But Microsoft Needs To Worry And Not Apple

Apple is one of the largest tech companies in the world with a market capitalization of $2 trillion. According to recent events, Google’s ChromeBooks have seemingly been sold more by Google than MacBooks by Apple. In 2020, Chrome OS took second place and beat Apple’s Mac OS according to a report by Geekwire. Chrome OS is the operating system that powers laptops made by Google and is totally cloud-based.

Although it might appear that it is Apple that needs to worry about being relegated on the sales charts, it is indeed Microsoft that needs to be bothered. This is because both Apple’s computers and Google’s ChromeBooks have made gains at the expense of laptops (and extensively desktops) that are powered by Windows.

Although this is not the first time the sales of Google’s ChromeBooks is topping that of Apple’s MacBooks, 2020 was the first full year Google held on to this record. The major advantage Google’s ChromeBook has in the market is its pricing. It is one of the best low-cost laptops if not the best that one could buy. The report by Geekwire says, ‘until the pandemic, Chrome OS’ success was largely limited to U.S. schools. Demand in 2020 appears to have expanded beyond that small but critical part of the U.S. PC market’.

According to what the report says, Apple’s MacOS and Google’s Chrome OS had market shares of 5.8% and 5.3% respectively in the first quarter of the year 2020. In the second quarter of the same year, Apple’s MacOS market share was 7.6% while that of Google’s Chrome OS skyrocketed to 10.0%. In the third quarter of 2020, Google’s Chrome OS market share stood at 11.5% and grew to 14.4% in the fourth quarter. On the other hand, while Apple’s MacOS jumped to 8.4% in the third quarter, it fell to 7.7% in the fourth. Let’s juxtapose the above figures with that of Microsoft’s. Microsoft’s market share stood at 87.5%, 81.7%, 78.9% and 76.7% in the first, second, third and fourth quarters respectively. This clearly indicates a continuous fall in Microsoft’s market shares and proves that it is Microsoft that should be concerned.

Geekwire’s report added that, ‘Three quarters in a row of Chrome OS above MacOS makes a trend. It’s safe to say that ChromeBooks from PC makers like Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, and Lenovo now outsell Apple’s range of desktop Macs and laptop MacBooks’.