Tag: Chrome OS

Deal could kill any hope of Dell Chromebooks

Posted on August 21, 2013 by - News, Opinions

Dell logoChromebooks are the new netbooks, but not the in the sense that they’ll go extinct over the next couple of years. They are dirt cheap, making them ideal for some niches and recent surveys indicate that Chromebook deployment in SMBs and even some bigger organisations makes a lot of financial sense.

On the other hand, Chromebooks could help PC vendors weather the storm as they complement proper laptops and to some extent tablets. HP, Lenovo, Samsung and Acer are already on board. Asus is rumoured to be working on Chromebooks as well, but what about Dell?

Dell doesn’t do Chromebooks and The VAR Guy reckons that there’s a good chance it won’t do any in the future, either. Dell is trying to go private, some shareholders don’t like the idea one bit and one particular detail could end all hope of Dell Chromebooks. If Dell does indeed go private, it will have to accept a $2 billion loan from Microsoft.

It is speculation at this point, but a $2 billion loan tends to come with some strings attached. Needless to say Microsoft has a vested interest in keeping Chromebooks away from mainstream markets and it already has a great relationship with Dell. In fact, Dell is one of the few PC vendors that did not try to expand into Android tablets. It does make tablets, but they run Windows RT and Windows 8 rather than Android. Its only foray into Android waters was the Ophelia, a thumb drive PC based on Android.

It’s quite a conundrum and it might get even worse. Chromebooks are just getting started and if HP, Lenovo and the rest of the gang start reporting positive sales figures over the next few months, pitchfork wielding shareholders could start demanding Chromebooks and Android gear from Dell. Lenovo is already making a killing on Android smartphones and tablets, Acer and Asus are also doing quite well, so why should Dell shareholders settle for anything less?

Acer wants to grow Chromebook, Android business

Posted on August 9, 2013 by - News, Products

acer-logo-ceAcer has committed the ultimate act of Windows heresy – it wants to expand its presence in the Chromebook and Android space. The shift was revealed by Acer president Jim Wang during the company’s latest conference call.

“We are trying to grow our non-Windows business as soon as possible. Android is very popular in smartphones and dominant in tablets…I also see a new market there for Chromebooks,” said Wang.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Wong expects Android and Chromebooks to account for 10 to 12 percent of Acer’s revenue this year. However, that figure could rise to a whopping 30 percent next year. At the moment, Chromebooks account for about three percent of Acer’s shipments.

Yesterday it emerged that Acer suffered a massive drop in EMEA shipments last quarter. It took a 44.7 percent hit compared to Q2 2012. With that in mind, it is abundantly clear why Acer is trying to tap other markets.

Over the past two years most PC makers, including Acer, tried to enter the Android tablet market and they don’t have much to show for it. Windows tablets are still dead in the water and earlier this week Acer slashed the price of its relatively new W3 Windows by 20 percent.

It appears that Chromebooks will be Acer’s next bet, as the Chromebook market is not nearly as saturated as the tablet market. However, Chromebooks also lack the mass consumer appeal of cheap and fun tablets.

Forrester thinks Chromebooks

Posted on July 31, 2013 by - News, Products

chromebookChromebooks are relatively new devices and they have yet to make their mark, but Forrester Research believes they have what it takes to make their presence felt in enterprise markets.

Although sales are still relatively low, bear in mind that Chromebooks are going after a limited niche market and that market does not include businesses, at least not for the time being.

However, Forrester’s latest Chromebook report concluded that businesses should rethink their approach to Chromebooks. At the moment only 28 percent of enterprises have some interest in Chromebooks, while 82 percent are interested in laptops. Despite the not-so-encouraging figures, Forrester’s research shows that there are a number of circumstances where Chromebooks may trump PCs, Macs and tablets in a business setting.

First of all Chromebooks are relatively cheap and they could be offered to specific classes of workers in a mixed environment with PCs and tablets, all at a relatively low cost. They are also a good fit for organizations that have adopted Gmail and other Google apps and services. Lastly, organizations that plan to deploy devices in a customer-facing think kiosk setting should be interested in Chromebooks.

Analyst J.P. Gownder argues that Chromebooks offer the prospect of radically reducing the amount of time IT staff spends keeping the devices going. Instead of wasting time on installing software and creating images on laptops, the techies could be freed up to do something a bit more productive. Due to their simplicity and reliance on Google’s cloud-based services, Chromebooks offer high uptime, low service costs and scalable deployment.

Windows and Microsoft Office have been a staple of businesses for decades, but Chromebooks might have what it takes to disrupt Redmond’s (strangle) hold on the market. They are cheap to procure, easy to deploy and even easier to maintain. Although many punters still view Chromebooks as a cosumerish replacement for netbooks, these advantages could transform them into a viable alternative to proper laptops in a number of settings.