Google’s Chromebooks Have Surpassed Apple’s MacBook in Sales

Well, that’s a headline I have never anticipated writing. According to the latest reports out of NPD, Google’s Chromebook has made quite the impact on the US commercial (businesses) market during 2013 (up until November). It’s managed to secure a 21% share of the notebook pie, up from – get this – 0.1% during 2012. Perhaps more impressive, that results in an 8% share when looking at the “personal computing” (desktops, notebooks, and tablets) market as a whole.

In 2012, Google’s Chromebook / Android combo resulted in 400,000 units shipped, whereas in 2013 over the same period, that number skyrocketed to 1.76 million.

When taking a look at total units shipped across notebooks, desktops and tablets, we can see a couple of notable declines. Desktops have fallen 4.5% to sit at 27.8%, for starters, whereas Windows-equipped notebooks have plummeted from 42.9% to 34.1%. Apple’s MacBooks have also seen a decrease, from 2.6% to 1.8%.

On the tablet side, Apple’s iPad has slid a little bit, but it continues to reign supreme with a 59% share. Android tablets have doubled in share, for 31.5%. While Microsoft’s latest tablets have been greeted to mixed reaction, adoption there has dramatically grown, with 8% of the total tablet market in the US belonging to Redmond.