Chromebook shipments see sharp growth

But ABI research shows Chromebook shipments are still way behind PCs

Chromebook shipments worldwide increased 67 per cent quarter on quarter during the second quarter of 2014, according to the latest report from ABI research.

The research also forecast that shipments of the sub-$300 (£187) devices, which use Google's Chrome operating system, had doubled in size annually in Q2.

Acer, Samsung and HP held a dominant share of this market, with the trio accounting for 74 per cent of shipments during the first half of 2014 and ABI forecasted them to "maintain market control through the second half of 2014". Market leader Acer holds as much market share as Samsung and HP combined.

Stephanie Van Vactor, research analyst at ABI, said: "Consumers are hungry for a product that is cost effective but also provides the versatility and functionality of a laptop. The growth of the Chromebook market demonstrates a niche that is gaining traction among consumers."

But despite the strong growth in Chromebook shipments, their sales are still a long way off matching traditional PCs.

According to the research from ABI, total shipments for Chromebooks this year are expected to reach 4.1 million, compared with conventional PC shipments which are predicted to be more than 300 million.

The prediction for Chromebook sales from ABI was also made before Samsung, one of the three leading suppliers, withdrew from the European PC and Chromebook market in September.

Chromebooks, which were launched in 2011 and mainly use the cloud for storage, were targeted in 2013 by Microsoft's "Scroogled" campaign to dismiss them as "not a PC".