The global pandemic changed how organizations provide information technology (IT) solutions for their knowledge worker and front-line employees that require access to software applications while working from home. It also accelerated the delivery of online education.
To ensure access to those distributed IT use cases, traditional desktop and notebook PCs coexist with media tablets, Chromebooks, and a variety of smartphone devices. This device diversity also created the demand for better management.
The second quarter of 2021 (2Q21) was another strong quarter for both Chromebooks and media tablets with both device categories recording growth despite a challenging year-over-year comparison.
The second quarter of 2021 (2Q21) was another strong quarter for both Chromebooks and media tablets with both device categories recording growth despite a challenging year-over-year comparison.
Unified Endpoint Management Market Development
According to the latest worldwide market study by International Data Corporation (IDC), Chromebook shipments grew 68.6 percent year-over-year with volumes reaching 12.3 million units.
While this wasn't a record quarter for Chromebooks, it wasn’t far off the prior two quarters, which shattered previous records. The tablet segment was more tempered than Chromebooks but still managed to grow 4.2 percent year over year with shipments totaling 40.5 million units.
Despite the positive results during the quarter, both categories are experiencing some slowdown from the demand in the preceding quarters. However, there is pent-up demand in some sectors of the market.
Despite the positive results during the quarter, both categories are experiencing some slowdown from the demand in the preceding quarters. However, there is pent-up demand in some sectors of the market.
For Chromebooks, while still in high demand and even on the backlog for many education sector deals, vendors have started prioritizing higher-margin Windows laptops given the ongoing component shortages.
For tablets, some of this applies, but there is also a bigger concern that consumer demand around tablets will slow much faster than Chromebooks or even the broader PC market.
"Opportunities in the education market are still ample for both tablets and Chromebooks. Online learning has gained rapid traction and has pushed forward the digital revolution in the learning space," said Anuroopa Nataraj, senior research analyst at IDC.
"Opportunities in the education market are still ample for both tablets and Chromebooks. Online learning has gained rapid traction and has pushed forward the digital revolution in the learning space," said Anuroopa Nataraj, senior research analyst at IDC.
While there isn't a single solution globally, many emerging markets continue to ramp up the use of Android tablets while schools in some developed markets like the United States and Canada lean more toward Chromebooks.
Outlook for Endpoint Device Management Growth
According to the IDC assessment, there has also been a recent uprising of Chromebooks in areas of Europe, as well as a few Asian countries as schools start opening up to platform change.
That said, I anticipate higher education, large enterprise, and midsize companies will all expand their support for lower-cost mobile personal computing devices, such as tablets and Chromebooks.
Besides, more CIOs and CTOs will adopt hybrid Virtual Desktop solutions that provide additional benefits such as improved manageability and enhanced security. They will combine and integrate those solutions by choosing vendors that offer comprehensive on-premises and cloud-based offerings.
More IT organizations are discovering that ongoing demand for flexible work and education solutions will transform the way that Line of Business (LoB) leaders select technology vendors as trusted advisors for their complex digital transformation projects.