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In this month’s Knowledge Exchange we examine why users are closing the once mighty Windows platform in favour of macOS and Chrome OS devices which continue to grow in popularity and market share!
Despite remaining the most dominant Operating System (OS) with 68% of market share worldwide, Microsoft’s Windows continues to face growing competition within the OS market.
Over the past decade Windows has lost more than 22% of its desktop OS market share worldwide, and more than 27% of market share in the USA alone. In the same time frame macOS has gained 13.5% and Chrome OS has grown by more than 4%.
Window’s popularity is due in part to its widespread availability on PCs from manufacturing partners such as Dell, HP, and Lenovo, but why has it lost such a significant proportion of the market in recent years?
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Apple’s macOS, which can be found in Apple’s Macbook and Mac Desktop product lines, which includes popular devices such as Macbook Air and Macbook Pro, has been steadily gaining ground in the OS space. It is particularly popular in the North American market where it holds 33% of market share, compared to just 15% in Europe and 21% worldwide.
Apple introduced Apple silicon, a series of system on a chip (SoC) and system in a package (SiP) processors manufactured by Apple in 2020 and subsequently rolled out installation in every new product they produce.
This move has undoubtedly accelerated Apple’s popularity across both consumer and enterprise markets as it allowed Apple to increase the performance and battery life of their devices compared to previous versions which were powered using Intel CPU processors. This heightened the competitiveness of Apple’s devices in terms of performance power compared to traditional PCs.
The rise in popularity of Google’s Linux-based Chrome OS can be attributed in part to the fact that Chromebooks are often a less expensive option for consumers compared to traditional PCs or Macbooks. Their lower price point has made them a popular device within the education sector and amongst parents looking for an affordable starter device for their children.
The popularity of Chromebooks surged in 2020 as the pandemic took hold and businesses and schools were forced to move to remote working and online learning environments. In the same year. PC shipments grew 13.1% hitting 300 million units, with Chromebooks accounting for 10.8% of devices sold, outselling Macbooks for the first time.
Windows may still dominate the desktop OS market, but when it comes to mobile devices and tablets, Microsoft has yet to make a dent, and has even discontinued its mobile operating system.
Despite Windows powered tablets such as the Microsoft Surface Pro being available, Android and Apple share 99% of this market. Android claims the lion’s share of the market with 70% of the combined phone and tablet market, whereas when considering tablets alone Apple’s iOS edges ahead with 53.5% due to the popularity of iPad devices.
The resulting demand for PCs caused by the pandemic gave way for Google and Apple to expand their market share at Microsoft’s expense.
There is no doubt that regardless of losing large market share Microsoft’s Windows remains as the most popular OS for desktops, however this popularity does not carry over to tablets and mobile devices as Apple and Android have saturated the market.
Microsoft and Intel are already preparing for the launch of Windows 12 according to leaked documents, so it remains to be seen if this will enable Microsoft to claim back some market share.
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