Chromebooks Are Problematic For Profits and Planet, Says Lenovo Exec

Laura Dobberstein reports via The Register: Lenovo won't stop making Chromebooks despite the machines scoring poorly when it comes to both sustainability and revenue, according to an exec speaking at Canalys APAC Forum in Bangkok on Wednesday. 'I don't know who makes the profit,' commented Che Min Tu, Lenovo senior vice president and group operations officer. 'Everybody struggled to sell the Chromebook.' Tu further remarked that the laptop is not great from an environmental standpoint either -- recycling its material won't be easy, or cheap. 'But I think we'll continue to sell the Chromebook because there's a demand,' explained Tu, who added that the major driver of that demand is coming from the education sector.

While the number of Chromebooks being sold has dropped since the pandemic, the education market has kept it afloat. In the US, education accounted for 80 percent of Chromebook sales in Q2 this year. IDC estimated that Q2 Chromebook channel sales shrank 1.8 percent to 5.8 million units in that quarter as many customers had refreshed in the previous quarter to avoid a licensing increase in the second half of 2023.

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