Chromebook Demand 'a Shadow of What It Was a Year Ago': SA

Notebook PCs continued to struggle in Q3, with global shipments declining 15% year on year to 56.1 million, blogged Strategy Analytics analyst Eric Smith Wednesday, citing inflation, recession and slow growth. Apple was the only laptop maker with a gain, with MacBook shipments growing 26% to 8.1 million for 14% market share. Market leader Lenovo had a 16% falloff to 12.8 million shipments and 23% share, HP shipments dropped 32% to 9.5 million, and Dell units tumbled 25% to 9.1 million, said the research firm. The commercial segment performed better than consumer for most vendors, with consumer volume “challenging” for all vendors except Apple. Chromebook demand, meanwhile, “is a shadow of what it was a year ago,” said Smith. For the first nine months of 2022, Chromebook shipments dropped 51% to about 16 million units. Looming global economic challenges will likely affect manufacturing and logistics costs, said Smith.