The ongoing coronavirus pandemic gave a huge push to online learning, which unsurprisingly led to a surge in the demand for e-learning hardware such as tablets and affordable PCs. Chromebooks, in particular, had a great year with shipments touching a record figure, As per market research report by Canalys, worldwide Chromebook shipments stood at 11.2 million units in Q4 2020, which marks a massive growth of 287% compared to the same quarter last year. 

In terms of segment leadership, HP emerged as the top Chromebook brand, trailed by Lenovo and Dell

Overall, the net global Chromebook shipment stood at 30.6 million units. The report adds that the overall Chromebook market almost quadrupled in size vis-a-vis the same point last year. Talking about individual contribution on a per-brand basis, HP emerged as the segment leader with 3.5 million units shipped in Q4 2020, witnessing a growth of 235% on a YoY basis. Lenovo took the second spot with a shipment figure of 2.8 million units, recording an astounding growth of 1766%. Acer and Dell shipped approximately 1.5 million units each, while Samsung sat at the fifth spot with just over a million units. 

As for the net Chromebook market share, HP ended the year with a 31% share, trailed by Lenovo at 22% and Dell at 15%. While Chromebooks has a solid 2020, it appears that the growth streak will continue in 2021 as well. “Demand for Chromebooks is through the roof,” noted Canalys Research Director Rushabh Doshi. “With governments in many countries racing towards a much needed 1:1 device to student ratio, Chromebook demand for education is expected to remain strong through 2021.”

But Chromebooks alone did not have a great year, as tablet shipments surged as well, witnessing a record shipment of 52.8 million in Q4 2020 and 160.6 million units for the entire year. As for the numerical growth figure, it stood at 28% compared to the same span in 2019. Apple grabbed a lion’s share of the market, shipping 19.2 million iPads in Q4 2020 to command a market share of 40%.