Attendees inspect the Google Chromebook Pixel laptop during the Google I/O developers conference (Photo : Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
More Google Chromebooks have been sold compared to Apple Macs in the first quarter of 2016 which is a first for the search engine giant.
It is no secret that Apple Macs are more famous than Google Chromebooks but it seems the latter has beaten the former in terms of units sold in the United States. The latest figures come from the International Data Corporation (IDC).
IDC confirmed that the Chrome OS took over Apple's Mac OS in the US by nearly 300,000 units. Apple only sold 1.76 million in the latest quarter while Lenovo, HP and Dell had sold almost 2 million Chromebooks.
The gap between the two is still pretty significant. Apple's products have been known to be needlessly expensive and it could be one reason.
Another reason is because there are more schools in the US that prefer Chromebooks. They are cheaper and more versatile with educational programs.
IDC's data is only limited as they only took into consideration the sales made in the US alone, The Verge reported. There are no official figures yet on how much the two faired against each other globally.
The milestone is good news for Google as the PC shipments are declining globally. Basically, the driving force for their sales are educational facilities and those who are looking for cheap alternatives for laptops.
IDC also said that K-12 schools in the US choose Google Chromebooks for their programs, Engadget reported. Since most schools have hundreds of students, that already equates to hundreds of Chromebook units as well.
Besides being expensive, Apple Macs also have limited support for some programs. They are more geared towards casual users who have money to spare.
Another advantage for the Chromebooks is that Google is already planning to make the millions of Android apps in their Play Store compatible with the Chrome OS. This means that users will be able to use their Google accounts to download any app they want from the store.
Google has also revealed Google Assistant at their recent I/O developer conference. It could be used to power more of their apps and Chrome OS programs as well.
