In recent years, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic, the laptop market has seen a surge in demand, predominantly for Windows-based systems. However, over the same period, there has not been a drive to adopt similar but less costly alternatives such as Chromebooks.
Why is this? With businesses looking to maximise their budgets without sacrificing quality or productivity should they re-consider the often-overlooked Chromebook?
Market Trends
Laptops have become increasingly prevalent, with Windows operating systems leading the market. Yet, Chromebooks offer a notable value proposition.
Take a look at the following examples:
1) Consider these shipment figures over the past few years: (Source: Statista)
Year | PC’s shipped (millions) | Chromebooks (millions) | Ratio to PC’s |
2019 | 262.55 | 17.0 | 1:15 |
2020 | 309.08 | 31.8 | 1:10 |
2021 | 341.73 | 36.9 | 1:9 |
2022 | 286.20 | 19.2 | 1:15 |
It is clear that the rapid build-up in both 2020 and 2021 can be connected with the global pandemic and the rush to work remotely, but what is less clear is why the decline in 2022 is dramatically greater for Chromebooks (a 48% reduction) than for PC’s (a 16% reduction)?
One answer might be that a large proportion of the Chromebooks shipped are not used within businesses but have a very substantial footprint in education (estimated to be nearly 70% of devices in use in the US educational sector!)
Could it be that business considers Chromebooks to be somehow inferior to Windows laptops? Suitable only for use by students and not built with the requirements of businesses or large organisations in mind?
The table below contrasts the specifications of a couple of leading suppliers of both Windows laptops and Chromebooks.
2) A comparison between a Windows laptop and a Chromebook
Windows laptop model | Chromebook model |
Acer EUN314A-51W | Asus VibeFlip CX55 |
14” Full HD screen | 15.6” Full HD Touchscreen |
Intel i5-1135G7 CPU 2.4GHz | Intel i5-1135G7 CPU 2.4GHz |
16GB DDR4 SDRAM | 16GB DDR4 SDRAM |
512GB SSD | 256GB SSD |
Intel Iris XE Graphics | Intel Iris XE Graphics |
Windows 11 Pro | ChromeOS |
13 hours battery life | 12 hours battery life |
£999.99 | £599.99 |
I don’t see a lot of difference there (except for a saving of £400 per unit!) and with the prevalence of large capacity inexpensive cloud storage nowadays, do you really need a large local storage capacity in your chosen device?
Barriers to adoption
So, if it is not the misconception that “Chromebooks are only good for students!” or that “Chromebooks are less powerful than Windows laptops!”, then what can it be that is preventing businesses from picking up on the fact that equipping their team with Chromebooks could result in substantial budget savings?
For some, it may be the fact that Chromebooks are essentially “online” devices and therefore reliant upon either Wi-fi or mobile connectivity.
Whilst it is true that there are locations where connectivity is a challenge, with over 95% of the UK capable of receiving a 4G signal and 77% having access to 5G, this is rapidly becoming a non-issue – especially with the launch of services such as Starlink and OneWeb creating extensive satellite connections in otherwise hard to reach areas.
So that probably comes down to “Chromebooks are unable to access the applications we use”!
Historically, businesses may have been reluctant to switch from Windows PCs to Chromebooks because of the restriction to only being able to access a limited range of business applications such as the Google Workplace apps or some small number of web-enabled apps available through the Google Play Store.
Not much use if you’re trying to access and use your enterprise-level applications such as ERP, CRM, HCM etc. – but now there is a solution to this problem!
The Solution
iNovar EMEA Limited, the developers of the award-winning 2GoCloud Universal Mobile Access software solution which provides secure, rapid and cost-effective access to ANY and ALL of the business applications you use, regardless of vendor, technology or age have just announced Chromebooks2Go – this dedicated version of the 2GoCloud app can be easily installed on Chromebooks via the Play Store and once validated can provide you with secure access to the 2GoCloud Server network enabling the use of all of your business applications whether they are the latest SaaS cloud-enabled software or legacy, thick-client software – all without the need to develop any mobile apps!
This innovative approach enables businesses to now easily switch over to Chromebooks in moments and yet still retain full access and use of all of the applications their users previously needed expensive Windows laptops to run.
The integration of Google and iNovar’s technologies in Chromebooks marks a significant shift in the business laptop landscape. With these advancements, Chromebooks are now viable, cost-effective alternatives for businesses of all sizes. Contact us to discover how much your organisation could save by switching to Chromebooks combined with 2Go Universal Mobile Access software.