Top 3 holiday computers sold by Amazon were Chromebooks

Amazon has a massive retail operation that often sees big sales over the holiday season. A press release from the company confirms this year was no exception. Buried in all the information Amazon shared, was the nugget that the top three computers sold over the holiday were Chromebooks.

This is the second year in a row for strong holiday sales of Chromebooks, but it's a bigger feat this year. Microsoft and its Windows hardware partners pushed out cheap laptops (around $200) to compete with the Chromebook this year. Based on Amazon's information, three Chromebooks outpaced them.

Amazon doesn't disclose sales numbers, but it's reasonable to assume that sales were brisk. The retailer sells many computers, especially laptops, which makes the top three sales leaders important.

The top three Chromebooks sold on Amazon over the holidays included models by Acer, Asus, and HP:

• Acer C720 Chromebook (11.6-inch, 2GB)
• Asus Chromebook 13-inch with Gigabit WiFi (16GB, 2GB)
• HP 11-2010nr 11.6-inch Chromebook

See related: Acer C720 Chromebook first impressions: Fast and cheap

Without sales numbers we have to take these claims with a grain of salt, but it's a safe bet a lot of Chromebooks were sold over the holidays. HP should be glad to see one of its Chromebooks hit the top seller list, but none of its low-cost Stream laptops with Windows made the top three.

Having regularly checked the special promotions on Amazon over the holidays, some of the HP Stream laptops were offered as low as $179. You would think this very good deal would result in big sales numbers, but evidently not enough to outsell the top Chromebooks on Amazon.

Generally, price is the biggest criteria for purchasers of Chromebooks. They are often around $200 for some decent hardware. Even with low promotional pricing on Windows laptops, they were passed over on Amazon in favor of the top three Chromebooks. This can't be what Microsoft wanted to see. Of course, this is just Amazon; I suspect inexpensive Windows laptops did okay at other retailers.

There were other interesting nuggets of information in the Amazon press release, including the list of top-selling tablets. While it's no surprise that Amazon's own tablets made the top three list given heavy promotions, it is interesting that the Kindle Fire 7 bested the Kindle Fire 6 and the Kindle Fire HDX 7. Note that the top three are all smaller tablets. Buyers liked the 7-inch size in particular.

Amazon also stated that 60 percent of holiday sales were made from a mobile device. Purchases made using gadgets were especially brisk on Cyber Monday, as Amazon sold 18 toys per second, via mobile devices. This indicates shoppers are moving away from the computer and grabbing the phone or tablet to shop online instead.

Additional Chromebook coverage:

• Chromebook: Three things Google must do in 2015
• Chromebooks: Debunking the misconceptions
• Review: Acer Chromebook 13 changing the game with the Nvidia Tegra
• Six months with the Acer C720 Chromebook: Still good for $199
• 11 tips and tricks for the Chromebook