Analyst: Chromebook and tablet shipments up 275 and 52 percent

Analyst firm Canalys has calculated that 275 percent more Chromebooks were shipped in the first quarter of this year than in the same period last year. Tablets are also on the rise; with an increase of 52 percent. Desktop deliveries were down 4 percent.

According to Canalys, nearly 12 million Chromebooks were shipped in the first quarter. Last year there were about 3.2 million. This category represents a growth of 275 percent. HP is the market leader with almost 4.4 million Chromebooks delivered, Lenovo and Acer round out the top three with 3.1 and 1.4 million units, respectively.

The tablet category was up 52 percent and the number of units delivered in the quarter was 37.7 million. Apple is the market leader with 15.2 million iPads, Samsung is in second place with 8 million tablets, followed by Lenovo with 3.8 million units.

Canalys estimates that the total market for PCs and tablets grew by 53.1 percent. Only desktop deliveries fell by 4 percent, but the analyst firm does not mention specific numbers. It is the fourth quarter in a row that the PC market has shown strong growth.

Several analysts previously calculated that the PC market grew by 33 to 55 percent in the first quarter. The growth is large compared to last year, because the corona pandemic only had a major impact at the end of the first quarter in 2020. After that, many people started working from home, which in particular increased laptop sales.

The total market for PCs, laptops and tablets in the first quarter was good for 122.1 million units, according to Canalys. Lenovo is the market leader with some 24 million devices, Apple is second with 22.1 million Macs and iPads and HP is number three with 19.3 million PCs.