iPad takes top spot in 2013 tablet market, but MacBooks lose out to Google-powered Chromebooks
Editor’s note: As noted in the graph above, the numbers in this article refer only to the commercial channel, as NPD does not measure direct sales. Some of the language below has been updated to clarify this point.
A new release from the NPD Group indicates that notebooks running Google’s Chrome OS have gained significant ground in the past year, with Google’s free operating system managing to overtake Apple’s entire lineup of MacBooks for the first time. According to the statistics, Chromebooks outsold Apple’s notebooks in the consumer channel at an over five-to-one margin.
Of course, it should be noted that the numbers presented don’t take built-to-order machines into account, instead relying on sales of pre-configured options, but even with custom orders included the numbers indicate a significant shift in consumer notebook selection. Luckily for Apple, the biggest hit seems to be to Microsoft, whose notebooks lost a significant 8% of the market to Google.
