What you need to know
- Strategy Analytics released a new report detailing notebook PC Q1 2021 results.
- Notebook PC shipments are up 81% year-over-year.
- In terms of global notebook PC operating system market share, Chrome OS saw big gains.
In case you were wondering what the state of notebook PC shipments and sales was in 2021, the news is good: Even with global supply shortages, notebook PC shipments are up 81% year-over-year, according to a report by Strategy Analytics. Q1 2021 is crushing Q1 2020's results.
In the first quarter of 2020, roughly 37.8 million notebook PCs were shipped. In the first quarter of 2021, that number nearly doubled to 68.2 million. That's a lot of units, especially given that there's supposed to be a global shortage of key computing components going on right now.
Strategy Analytics' figures also expose global notebook PC market share based on operating systems. In Q1 2020, Windows had nearly 80% of the market. As of Q1 2021, it's down to 73%. Meanwhile, Chrome OS jumped from 11.7% to 17.7%.
Given that the whole world's gone remote, including the education sector, it's not a massive surprise that Chromebooks have seen a spike in popularity, hence the big boost in Chrome OS market share. Still, what the long-term ramifications of that shift in market share might be (if any) remains to be seen.
Strategy Analytics' full report on global notebook PC shipments can be seen on the company's website, though it's available to clients only.
