U.S. Tablet Sales Led by iPad in 2013 as Chromebooks Overtake MacBooks

[AppleScruff1]

Because you don't want to buy a computer from a company that might not be here to support it. Much of the Windows PC part of the industry is starting to look like a bunch of "fly-by-night" operations. That doesn't generate much trust, and chrome books would do better if they didn't emulate the strategy.

I didn't realize that Dell, HP, Samsung, Sony, Lenovo, Toshiba and Asus were going out of business due to the lack of profits. I never looked upon these companies as "fly by night". Should I hope that my electric company makes a healthy profit at my expense too?

 

[James_C]

Not counting returns.

The survey only looks at data from distributors and resellers so it excludes sales made by Apple directly, I don't believe you can compare the absolute number of sales between Apple and Chromebooks, as I would imagine that a significant number of notebooks are sold directly from Apple. The year on year trend information may be useful, but I don't believe the survey is reliable in terms of total units sold Apple compared with other manufacturers that probably have most of their sales through resellers / distributors.

 

[samcraig]

I didn't realize that Dell, HP, Samsung, Sony, Lenovo, Toshiba and Asus were going out of business due to the lack of profits. I never looked upon these companies as "fly by night". Should I hope that my electric company makes a healthy profit at my expense too?

I'm also pretty sure that the name on the outside is relatively meaningless anyway.

Most PCs are very modular, upgradeable and "easily" repairable across the board.

So even if you buy from a fly-by-night - you're not REALLY screwed over if you need repairs or replacement parts.

 

[Renzatic]

My chuckle on this thread are those that appear seemingly threatened by the fact that something other than an Apple product is selling well. Clearly only Apple should or needs to be successful.

ETA: Because clearly - there's only enough room in the marketplace of any industry for only one company.

Yeah, I hate it when the things I like get beat by the things I don't like. When that happens, I usually try to find any excuse I can to spin those numbers in favor of my favorite things.

Like when the iPhone was selling well, comeon, the public has spoken! The iPhone is what they want!

Now that it's being outsold slightly by Android. Yeah? Like that matters. Cheap crap sells better than quality crap.

And if you disagree with me in any way, I'll call you a paid Samsung troll, and maybe use the rolleyes emote to make you look dumb.

 

[mantan]

I didn't realize that Dell, HP, Samsung, Sony, Lenovo, Toshiba and Asus were going out of business due to the lack of profits. I never looked upon these companies as "fly by night". Should I hope that my electric company makes a healthy profit at my expense too?

In the bizarro world of Mac Rumors, you're supposed to celebrate a company making a huge profit margin off of you and allowing you the status of owning one of their products.

I never quite understood it either. I couldn't imagine logging onto a big pharma or oil company message board and getting giddy about their quarterly profit margins. Especially amusing are the people who consider it's good for them as shareholders...when they only own a handful of shares and have likely paid out any money earned on the premium they paid for all their Apple toys.

Hey, I like Apple stuff as much as the next guy. But as a consumer, I want to see competition, innovation and lower prices.

 

[Michael Scrip]

My chuckle on this thread are those that appear seemingly threatened by the fact that something other than an Apple product is selling well. Clearly only Apple should or needs to be successful.

We need to clarify something... Chromebooks are not selling well. Not just compared to Apple... but to everyone.

This article is talking about the "US commercial channel" which is sales to businesses, government, education and other organizations. And Chromebooks having 9.6% of that market seems pretty good.

But when you look at the total market... Chromebooks were just 1% of the PC and tablet market last quarter.

Samsung, by far the largest Chromebook vendor, only shipped 652,000 Chromebooks worldwide last quarter. Lenovo, Acer and HP Chromebook shipments were even smaller by comparison.

Apple sells more iPads and Macs in 4 days than Chromebooks sell all quarter. IF there was a case where Apple fans seem threatened... this wouldn't be it.

 

[samcraig]

We need to clarify something... Chromebooks are not selling well. Not just compared to Apple... but to everyone.

This article is talking about the "US commercial channel" which is sales to businesses, government, education and other organizations. And Chromebooks having 9.6% of that market seems pretty good.

But when you look at the total market... Chromebooks were just 1% of the PC and tablet market last quarter.

Samsung, by far the largest Chromebook vendor, only shipped 652,000 Chromebooks worldwide last quarter. Lenovo, Acer and HP Chromebook shipments were even smaller by comparison.

Apple sells more iPads and Macs in 4 days than Chromebooks sell all quarter. IF there was a case where Apple fans seem threatened... this wouldn't be it.

Image

I appreciate your data (I really do). But my point wasn't specific to just this thread. It was a general comment. But I think you knew/know that...

 

[vikingdave]

Other News ...

And in other news ... hamburgers outsold Filet Mignon once again.

No news here.

 

[512ke]

Michael, excellent post (above).

Chromebooks have less than 1% of the market and yet tons of media sources today are running headlines about MS's and Apple's utter defeat.

If you long for Apple to fail, I say, tough patooties for you. This is a time of huge gains as success for Apple. So, in as polite terms as I can muster, suck it.

 

[Renzatic]

Now that it's being outsold slightly by Android. Yeah? Like that matters. Cheap crap sells better than quality crap.

And in other news ... hamburgers outsold Filet Mignon once again.

No news here.

See? SEE?

edit: hey cool, I just got a quote notification from myself.



----------

Michael, excellent post (above).

Chromebooks have less than 1% of the market and yet tons of media sources today are running headlines about MS's and Apple's utter defeat.

If you long for Apple to fail, I say, tough patooties for you. This is a time of huge gains as success for Apple. So, in as polite terms as I can muster, suck it.

I think it has less to do with the fact they're being outsold, and more to do with the fact they're a currently quickly growing segment.

Whether they stay that way remains to be seen, but it is something worth taking notice of.

 

[coolspot18]

Well hopefully more than a handful and they are earning something useful. I'd submit a highly skilled pipefitter, plumber, welder, electrician, etc - is WAY more useful to society than somebody fresh out of college with a $120,000 liberal arts degree and 4 years of great memories partying on daddy's dime.

I agree - not all degrees are useful. But there is still a large part of society that has no education beyond high school. It's sad to think that there is such a large part of society that is "uneducated".

 

[Technarchy]

I use a 2012 MBA and I got my wife a 2013 Samsung Chromebook early this year.

The Chromebook does everything she wants a PC to do. Browse, create spreadsheets, Facebook. It's been a stellar performer and was for sure what I would call a good purchase with high value for it's intended purpose.

 

[AppleScruff1]

In the bizarro world of Mac Rumors, you're supposed to celebrate a company making a huge profit margin off of you and allowing you the status of owning one of their products.

I never quite understood it either. I couldn't imagine logging onto a big pharma or oil company message board and getting giddy about their quarterly profit margins. Especially amusing are the people who consider it's good for them as shareholders...when they only own a handful of shares and have likely paid out any money earned on the premium they paid for all their Apple toys.

Hey, I like Apple stuff as much as the next guy. But as a consumer, I want to see competition, innovation and lower prices.

So if I own a few shares of Exxon, I should hope that gas goes up to $5 gallon and be happy that they are making billions in profit.

 

[prowlmedia]

You can get web based Office now and its very very good. I can't speak for your office but ours, no internet no work. No phones, no email, no ECC access nothing. So the always on thing may not be that big of a deal and with tethering and or LTE devices (what we use for travel) it really isn't a big deal.

Hell do you work for the NSA? Oh hold on a minute...

 

[DeathChill]

So if I own a few shares of Exxon, I should hope that gas goes up to $5 gallon and be happy that they are making billions in profit.

I would imagine it's quite different. You are in no way forced to purchase anything Apple-related. You likely are required to purchase gas/fuel in one way or another (either directly or indirectly through transportation cost hikes in buses, planes, etc).

 

[Digital Skunk]

cheap will always overcome quality especially when most people want to use their smartphone and only need the Chromebook or MacBook for more advanced work.

 

[AppleScruff1]

I would imagine it's quite different. You are in no way forced to purchase anything Apple-related. You likely are required to purchase gas/fuel in one way or another (either directly or indirectly through transportation cost hikes in buses, planes, etc).

Why? If profit is good for Apple, it should be good for Exxon, AT&T, Verizon, my electric, insurance and health care providers too.

 

[samcraig]

I agree - not all degrees are useful. But there is still a large part of society that has no education beyond high school. It's sad to think that there is such a large part of society that is "uneducated".

Not having a formal education post high school doesn't make one uneducated. I'm not sure if that's what you were implying. But education comes in many shapes and forms. Not all of them come from a brick and mortar institution.

I personally know several high school and college drop outs who are more educated than those with several degrees.

I use a 2012 MBA and I got my wife a 2013 Samsung Chromebook early this year.

The Chromebook does everything she wants a PC to do. Browse, create spreadsheets, Facebook. It's been a stellar performer and was for sure what I would call a good purchase with high value for it's intended purpose.

This is why even though we may disagree (and often) I will always respect your opinion whether or not I agree with it. Because of posts like this. It illustrates that not everyone has the same use case or wants/needs the same thing. You can love Apple and still enjoy other tech.

 

[Michael Scrip]

I appreciate your data (I really do). But my point wasn't specific to just this thread. It was a general comment. But I think you knew/know that...

Yeah... I knew that. I just wish this article and chart was updated to explain exactly which markets they're referring to.

I agree that it's crazy to feel threatened by something else selling well... but at least they should be given the full information.

If you look at the chart... someone will get the impression that Chromebooks outsell Macbooks 5 to 1

In the business, government, education and organization market that appears to be the case... in the "commercial channel"

But we know that doesn't represent the total market, right?

Again... it's not a contest about who sells more... I just want the whole story to be told. And this article does a poor job of it. Even the headline says "Chromebooks Overtake MacBooks"

Yes... people can be irrational with their love of Apple and hate of everything non-Apple. But they're also misinterpreting the data that was given to them.

 

[samcraig]

Why? If profit is good for Apple, it should be good for Exxon, AT&T, Verizon, my electric, insurance and health care providers too.

The perfect example here are the phone networks. On this very forum you have people calling them all greedy yet the same praise Apple and how smart they are when it comes to business.

I'm not arguing against a business being smart or greedy. Just agreeing with you that it's rather silly to be selective in such a manner.

 

[DeathChill]

Why? If profit is good for Apple, it should be good for Exxon, AT&T, Verizon, my electric, insurance and health care providers too.

I'm not saying those companies shouldn't profit. I'm saying that gas is not equivalent to consumer electronics where you have choice. If gas prices rise it's not as if I have a choice to get cheaper gas anywhere, whereas if Apple decides it wants to charge me more I can tell them to shove it.

 

[prowlmedia]

Does anyone actually know where this company gets its Data from. Companies in the UK that have POS retail data is actually people outside PC World asking people questionnaires. Like Exit polls. Essentially meaningless if people are unwilling to talk to them which is probably 90% of people. But stats can look at 10% as being the whole group data.

I can't imagine any company would give up it's sales data until it has to?

 

[HenryDJP]

It seems like many people in this thread have probably never used a Chromebook for over a day, nor do they know many people who don't require a fully-equipped laptop



I heard there's this thing called demographics and anecdotal evidence that can be very useful in explaining a situation like this. Maybe you should look into them.

Maybe you should look into proving your bogus claim.

 

[samcraig]

If you look at the chart... someone will get the impression that Chromebooks outsell Macbooks 5 to 1

Even the headline says "Chromebooks Overtake MacBooks"

I would call it perfect link/forum bait, no? Look what site you're on. That headline didn't come from the study. It came from editors on here. They're smart enough to create a "hot button" headline that will cause an increase in hits/posts...

 

[coolspot18]

Not having a formal education post high school doesn't make one uneducated. I'm not sure if that's what you were implying. But education comes in many shapes and forms. Not all of them come from a brick and mortar institution.

I personally know several high school and college drop outs who are more educated than those with several degrees.

You're looking at exceptions to the rule - I'm talking about generalities.

On average, a Bachelor's degree holder earns $67,000 per year. A high school diploma holder only $37,000.

A university degree is worth a lot of money ...