Chromebooks Gain Share of Education Market Despite Shortages

When many children attend classes this fall, they’re likely to do so by opening a laptop at home rather than sitting down in a classroom. That shift has caused a spike in demand for PCs—and particularly for Chromebooks, the low-cost laptops that use Google’s Chrome operating system and apps. 

Demand from schools and parents has been so intense that waits for popular Chromebooks have stretched as long as five months, according to some school IT administrators. Even with these shortages, computers with the Chrome operating system have been picking up market share throughout the pandemic and will likely do so for the rest of the year, according to market research firms. Chrome has widened an existing lead in the education market—one that could influence a generation of new computer users.