The Chromebook business is booming for Acer with its $199 notebook now accounting for 5 to 10 percent of its US shipments.
Acer’s sales numbers are some of the first we have heard for the Google Chromebook. Both Samsung and Google have been reluctant to issue statements regarding the number of Chrome OS-based notebooks they have sold.
The Acer Chromebook is a $199 Wi-Fi only device listed under the Acer C7 model number.
Acer was quick to push out the C7 for sale, making it available through popular retailers including the Google Play store, Best Buy, and TigerDirect.com.
Speaking about the Acer Chromebook’s success, company president Jim Wong told Bloomberg that the 5-10 percent ration should “be sustainable in the long term.” Wong also notes that his “company is considering offering Chrome models in other developed markets.”
While Google has attempted to push its Chromebooks and Chromeboxes to large enterprise customers and educational facilities, it has left other manufacturers to market the devices towards the casual PC market.
The Acer C7 Chromebook and other models are being marketed as cheaper alternatives to tablet PCs. Google claims that that the overall cost of ownership is also less for its cloud-based machines which offer less on-board memory.
While CEO Wong offers a positive outlook for ChromeOS, he is less enthusiastic about Microsoft Windows 8 systems. According to Wong:
“Windows 8 itself is still not successful.”
According to TechCrunch , Acer has been most pleased by the Chrome OS’ ability to attract an audience with very little market on behalf of Google.
Do you prefer the Google Chrome OS over Windows 8 or other tablet operating systems?
