HP's first Chromebook arrives, offers a large screen and a small battery for $329.99
The leaks were all true: Following Samsung, Acer, and Lenovo, HP has decided to build a laptop running Google's Chrome OS operating system. It's called the HP Pavilion 14 Chromebook …
Context & Ripple Effects
HP has turned the leaked Pavilion 14 specifications into a commercial Chrome OS entry, joining Samsung, Acer, and Lenovo among the laptop makers named in the coverage. The $329.99 price positions HP's first model as a low-cost portable rather than a premium PC.
The announcement gives Google another established hardware partner for Chrome OS, while HP adds a web-centric system to its laptop lineup during a period when the company is also cutting jobs and closing a German site.
First-order effects
- HP begins selling a 14-inch Chrome OS laptop at $329.99, expanding its notebook range with an operating system supplied by Google.
- Google gains HP as an additional Chromebook vendor alongside Samsung, Acer, and Lenovo, widening the set of manufacturers offering Chrome OS hardware.
Second-order effects
- Samsung, Acer, and Lenovo face a new HP-branded option at the entry-level Chromebook price point, making screen size, battery life, and retail availability more important points of differentiation.
- HP's choice makes Chrome OS a more viable route for PC makers seeking a lower-priced laptop category without developing a separate software platform.
Third-order effects
- If more established PC vendors follow HP, Chromebook competition is likely to shift from proving the category exists to differentiating hardware around Google's common operating system.
The trend: Chromebooks are evolving from a small set of vendor experiments into a broader OEM hardware category built around Google's Chrome OS.