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There’s been a story running around today that Samsung may halt production of its Windows-based notebook lineup in 2015 so that the tech giant may focus only on Chromebooks as it main laptop production offering. Seen on GSM Arena, OMG! Chrome and other news outlets, this bit of news has been advised to consume with a grain of salt. Not one story I’ve seen yet has confirmed this from a concrete source, so as much as I’d love this to be true, I won’t jump to any conclusions until I see something from Samsung themselves.
And, a refresh of the current Samsung Chromebook wouldn’t hurt, either.
That being said, I came across a bit of news that adds at least a small amount of credence to this rumor. About a week ago, IT Pro reported that Samsung expects huge growth in its Chromebook sector according to Ben Brown, education business manager at Samsung.
We’ve seen massive uptake of Chromebooks in general – in the US usage is at 20 per cent after two years and in the UK it’s 3 per cent in 12 months. In 2014, the demand for Chromebooks is expected to quadruple in the UK.
He goes on to explain that because of their cost, security, and collaboration abilities, Chromebooks are being projected as the largest growth area for Samsung’s education devices in 2014.
Those are some pretty substantial numbers and projections for such a fledgling OS if you ask me. Does it all equate to Samsung getting out of the Ultrabook game? I’d highly doubt it. But it does lend a ton of credibility to the idea that 2014 could see Chromebooks truly stake a huge claim in the commercial, consumer and education markets.
Here’s hoping!
[photo credit: Google]
