Rumors: Acer, Samsung sold under 5,000 Chromebooks early on
updated 08:05 am EST, Thu November 10, 2011
Chromebooks may have had poor turnout in summe
Google's Chromebooks may have been non-starters on their arrival in June, PC field reports alleged on Thursday. Between arrival and the end of July, Acer's Cromia 700 shipped just 5,000 units, Digitimes' tipsters claimed. Samsung's higher-priced Series 5 would have sold less than that.
Neither Acer nor Samsung has confirmed the numbers, though neither they nor Google have given indications of numbers.
While the exact causes wouldn't be identifiable, Chrome OS systems have sat in a difficult in-between position in computing. At a minimum $350, the systems cost as much or more than netbooks but don't have their storage or support for working offline. They also sit under tablets that have much of the fast booting and long battery life that Google wants, but which are also considerably more portable.
Google has pitched Chromebooks as being ideal for business and secure, but a large number of companies are either tied to Microsoft Office or can't use Google Docs for their needs. While they can cache offline content, most web apps depend on an Internet connection and make the systems impractical on many flights or outside of coverage.
The assertions came just as Google chairman Eric Schmidt was wrapping up a short Asian tour and tried to drum up support for Chrome OS from local PC builders.





Mac Enthusiast
Joined: Nov 2005
Stupid idea
It was a stupid idea to start with and no one fell for it. This is the kind of junk they come up with when they don't copy other's ideas.