Google Chromebook Outsales Apple's MacBook Pro, Air, Notebooks, Is Price Difference Major Reason?

Google Chromebook has out-shipped Apple's MacBook Pro, MacBook Air and MacBook notebooks in the United States in the first quarter of the year. According to reports, more personal computers that are powered by Google's Chrome operating system were also shipped in the country in the same period, compared to other devices that run Apple's OS X.

Based on the released figures, 37 percent more Google Chromebooks, the more affordable notebooks powered by Chrome OS, were shipped in the same quarter than Mac notebooks.  Apple delivered an estimated 1.17 million of Mac notebooks in the country in the first quarter of the year, while Google Chrome OS notebooks delivered 1.6 million in the same period.

Majority of  Google Chromebooks comes from third-party original equipment manufacturers like Asus, Hewlett-Packard, Acer, Dell and Lenovo, according to Google. While Google does not release shipment figures, the IDC's shipment numbers for OS X and Chrome OS systems were estimates made through the data from Asian component suppliers and vendors. Although Apple revealed the international Mac sales in their April 26 revenues call with Wall Street, the company did not give specific details per region, Info World reported.

The numbers released by the IDC analysts that track the shipment of a device were just estimates and clear when the research agency's projection of Apple's sales were compared for the first three months.

Meanwhile, Mac sales were reduced by 12 percent in the first three months compared to the first quarter of 2015, Apple's second biggest decline in nine years. In addition to this, the average selling price of Mac was $1,266 in the first quarter, or four times the average cost of 30 different PCs that run Chrome OS.   

Google Chromebooks have been sold first and foremost to educational organizations, specifically the K-12 books due to easy manageability and low price. Former IDC analyst Bob O'Donnell said that such notebooks are preferred by more people because they are looking for an affordable device, taking note of the fact that schools are also particular to price, which explains the reason for choosing the device, according to The Guardian.