Google reveals Chromebook pricing and availability for Europe
Summary: Samsung and Acer's Chromebook have landed in four new EU countries, but none will be getting a full range of the Chrome OS hardware.
Google has revealed pricing and availability for its Chromebooks in four new European markets.
Chromebooks have now been released in France, Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands, bringing the total number of European countries to get the Chrome OS devices to five: the UK has had both Samsung and Acer Chromebooks since last year.
In France, the Samsung Chromebook is available for €299 from Fnac.com, Cdiscount, Amazon, Pixmania and 10 Fnac stores in the Paris region, where Google experts will be providing demonstrations every Friday and Saturday until 11 May. Neither HP's recently announced Chromebook or the Acer C7 are available in the country, however. Google is also creating a Hangout for French buyers in the education sector on 29 March.
Germany will get both the Acer Chromebook C7 and the Samsung Chromebook. The Samsung laptop is available at Notebooksbilliger, Amazon, Cyberport and Saturn on the internet and at Hamburg's Mönckebergstraße for €299, while Acer's C7 is available at Saturn, Cyberport, Notebooksbilliger and Amazon for €279. German buyers are being offered an education-focused Hangout on 28 March.
From Tuesday, consumers in Ireland can buy the Acer C7 for €249 and Samsung Chromebook for €279 at Currys and Amazon.
In the Netherlands, Samsung's Chromebook is available later today for €299, while Acer's C7 will cost €269. Both can be purchased online at mediamarkt.nl, saturn.nl and laptopshop.nl. They're also getting a big presence in physical retail, selling across 41 Mediamarkt and Saturn stores and will be available to educational institutions and companies.
Both the Samsung and Acer Chromebooks also went on sale in Australia this week, through the websites of Australian retailers JB Hi Fi and Harvey Norman as well as select stores. According to Google's Australian announcement, the HP Chromebooks should be available soon.
The only new market to be delivered all three available Chromebooks was Canada, where Samsung ($269.99) and Acer ($249.99) Chromebooks will be available at both BestBuy.ca and Futureshop.ca online. They will become available in stores soon, according to Google. Meanwhile, the HP Pavillion Chromebook ($329.99) will be available at HPshopping.ca, and will also be available to schools and businesses in Canada.
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Talkback
Chromebook big Failure in the US
According to article above, Google sold only 500K Chromebooks in the US.
This means US consumers are not as stupid as Google think.
I hope European consumers are just as smart and can see through the "google hype" and not buy this glorified browser.
That's you evidence
So funny.......
Errr....
And....
Acer sold 500,000 C7 Chromebooks in 100 days in the US and UK...
Since Acer sales to education and businesses have been negligible with most opting for Samsung, the 500,000 figure also excludes channel sales to education which have been the main push and the main source of sales until about 3 months ago.
Growth rates for Chromebooks are 700% per year, and Chromebooks now make up 0.7% (based on web usage statistics) of the all installed base of desktop computing devices (that is about 4 million in total), and 10% of the computer sales of the companies and outlets selling them (Acer and Currys PC World official statements). All that with no advertising, limited availability at sales outlets, and despite serious consumer sales and competitive pricing starting only 4 months ago. That's pretty good - no wonder more OEMs are jumping on board and demand is high enough for Amazon to sell the Samsung Chromebooks at a premium over the recommended retail price and still keep it as its best selling laptop.
The numbers actually tie together and make make perfect sense. Digitimes is a Taiwanese publication and only has access to leaked Acer figures - presumably through an Acer employee. The 500,000 number is therefore Acer only, and excludes Samsung (which is Korean) and has sold far more Chromebooks. The number of 0.7% of total installed desktop base is probably accurate, because it accurately estimated the number of Windows phones sold.
The most likely numbers that would fit the what is known/reported and known facts is as follows:
Year ending March 2013 = 4,000,000 installed base (0.7% of desktop devices from web usage stats): Sales = 3,427,000 based on 500,000 Acer (C7); 2,2277,000 Samsung Series 3; 650,000 Samsung series 5 and 550 to education. (700% growth in user base year on year).
Year ending March 2012 = 571,000 installed base: Sales = 371,000 mostly Samsung Series 5 to education
Before March 2012 = 250,000 total Acer and Samsung series 5: Sales =250,000 mostly to education.
Scale the numbers above by the amount you think the Chromebook user base is currently as a percent of total installed desktop computers and you have a good estimate of the real numbers. To claim that Acer C7 sales in the last 100 days represents all Chromebook sales and all its installed base is unrealistic.
Google Inc is Creepy
It reads your emails, tracks your movements, know your medical history, and know your bank account passwords.
Consumers should stop using Google products.
You do have something other than your word, correct
“know your bank account passwords.”
So funny...
Chromebooks are here to stay
One obstacle to wider adoption of Chromebooks (especially in business) is the popularity of Windows applications, especially Microsoft Office. One way around this is with solutions like Ericom AccessNow, an HTML5 RDP client that enables Chromebook users to connect to Terminal Server or VDI virtual desktops, and run Windows applications (like MS Office) or even full desktops in a browser tab. So even if you purchase a Chromebook for casual home use, you can also use it to connect to your work applications if necessary.
Click here for more information:
http://www.ericom.com/RDPChromebook.asp?URL_ID=708
Please note that I work for Ericom
Probably the same as previous talk
With Win 8 crapping out, it reminds me of when Vista was crapping out. all the Linux zealots [not releated to the "regular" Linux users] thought that with Vista crapping out, the unhappy Windows people would move to Linux. Wrong! There was no significant increase in Linux usage. For a couple of years Linux has been stuck at about 1.2% usage. There has been no uptick with Win 8's collapse.
The same people said netbooks were here to stay but then got slaughtered by the tablet revolution. In another facter, few people [outside of techies and Linux zealots] know linux. Make things even worse is that Chrome OS requires the Internet and you have to live and breathe Google software. Can't switch to Opera or Safari.
Windows decline is due to users switching to other types of device.
Microsoft is still a dominant monopoly on the desktop - the problem is that that monopoly is becoming less relevant as large sections of users switch to other types of devices like smartphones, tablets and cloud computers like Chromebooks. It is a bit like a horse buggy manufacturer having a monopoly on horse drawn buggies when customers are switching to automobiles - they are still dominant in their field, but in a terminal decline that will eventually be fatal.