Report says Chromebook sales are up 79% to 5.2M units this year

Gartner released a report today with its latest numbers on Chromebooks noting that sales are up 79% since last year and on track to triple by 2017. That 79% increase means Gartner is estimating sales will hit 5.2 million units this year while predictions for 2017 sit at 14.4 million units.

The report also estimates around 85% of sales were into the education market:

Demand for Chromebooks is mainly driven by the education sector in the U.S. Gartner estimates that the education sector accounted for nearly 85 percent of Chromebook sales in 2013. In addition, of the 2.9 million Chromebooks sold during 2013, 82 percent were sold in North America, making it the major market for Chromebooks globally.

In addition, we also get a look at market share for Chromebooks by vendor as of last year (above) with Samsung grabbing 64% of the market and Acer next in line at 21.4%. 

By selling 1.7 million units in 2013, Samsung led the Chromebook market globally. It was especially dominant in the education market, having the most popular devices in primary and secondary schools. Acer, which had a 21.4 percent market share in 2013, designs Chromebooks with a consistent focus on delivering the best value for money. It uses Intel, rather than ARM-based, CPUs because its target consumers are price-sensitive.