Chromebook sales numbers are down, Pixel sales soar in Q4 of 2021

02/06/22 • 89 min

2 Listeners

This week on The Chrome Cast, we begin the show talking through our recent review of the ASUS Chromebook Flip CX5400. It has become a favorite around the office and there are a lot of reasons why, so we cover those and talk about a few other hardware-related things we’re looking forward to form some other Chromebooks on the way.

Next up, we walk through the slightly-misleading headlines swirling around the internet concerning some pretty big drop-offs in sales numbers for Chromebooks in Q4 of 2021 versus the previous Q4 of 2020. As you can imagine, comparing numbers in the midst of the pandemic in 2020 to what was going on in Q4 of 2021 skews things a bit, and we get into all the reasons why we should all expect Chromebook sales to be quite a bit lower than they were in 2020.

We also discuss the very positive numbers Google shared for their Pixel 6 sales while also pumping the brakes a bit about what those numbers actually translate to. While it is great to see the Pixel 6 selling well, we have to look at the smartphone market as a whole and remember Google still has a large hill to climb, there.

NOTABLE LINKS

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This episode is sponsored by VIZOR, Chromebook and IT Asset Management Software for K-12 CLICK HERE to schedule a demo and get 20% off!

This episode is also brought to you by NordVPN. CLICK HERE to get 2 years of the best VPN service with 68% off for $3.71/month.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

NOTABLE LINKS

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This episode is sponsored by VIZOR, Chromebook and IT Asset Management Software for K-12 CLICK HERE to schedule a demo and get 20% off!

This episode is also brought to you by NordVPN. CLICK HERE to get 2 years of the best VPN service with 68% off for $3.71/month.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Previous Episode

New details emerge on the Pixel Notepad and Pixel Watch

This week on The Chrome Cast, we begin things by introducing our newest, soon-to-be employee: Andrew Johnson. After letting all of you get to know him a bit better, we move on to talking through the newest leaks surrounding the Pixel Notepad and Pixel Watch. For the Notepad, that means we’re talking about the possible $1399 price tag and with the Pixel Watch, it means we’re discussing the rumored May 26th launch date.

Next, we talk through the recent findings that show RGB keyboards in the works for Chromebooks. This means Google and Chromebook manufacturers are really serious about gaming on Chrome OS and as we await the release of ‘Borealis’ – a.k.a. Steam on Chrome OS – it looks like Chromebook makers are getting things in line to take full advantage.

Finally, we discuss MediaTek’s new Kompanio chips for Chromebooks and the latest news that reveals the new ‘Boreal’ device – one we hoped was a high-end Chromecast with Google TV – will likely be a standard HD version at an even lower price. While its a bit of a bummer, it is probably a good move as we look at the current state of the market for streaming dongles.

NOTABLE LINKS

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This episode is sponsored by VIZOR, Chromebook and IT Asset Management Software for K-12 CLICK HERE to schedule a demo and get 20% off!

This episode is also brought to you by NordVPN. CLICK HERE to get 2 years of the best VPN service with 68% off for $3.71/month.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Next Episode

Chrome OS 98 arrives with some great new features

This week, we begin the podcast by debuting our latest giveaway: 6 Lenovo Smart Clocks with the wireless charging dock. You can check out more details on that device here, but don’t forget to get entered for your chance to win down further in this post. This time, the giveaway will run until the end of the month and we’ll draw 6 lucky winners on February 28th at 10am.

Oh, and this is our first podcast with a video component available, too! We’ll be tweaking and honing this element as we go, but the core pieces are now in place for you to watch/listen to the podcast from this point forward. We really hope you enjoy it! Now, let’s talk about the actual podcast content a bit, shall we?

The first large segment of the show is spent talking about Chrome and Chrome OS 98 and all the new, small, useful features that have come along with them. We actually have a video that just went live highlighting a few of these things, and with the new 4-week update schedule in place, it seems that these simple feature additions could be the way of things for the foreseeable future.

Additionally, we discuss the Samsung Unpacked event and some of the noteworthy things that came from it. Of particular interest was the fact that Samsung is including 4 years of OS updates and 5 years of security updates, surpassing Google’s own Pixel phones by a full 2 years in that regard. Samsung also made it clear that their full camera functionality for the Galaxy S22 will be available in popular apps like Instagram, Snapchat and more. In some ways, Samsung is simply besting Google at making Android an OS for the masses.