IDC: Chrome OS annual market share passed macOS for the first time in 2020, up 4.4% YoY to 10.8%, Windows fell 4.9% YoY to 80.5%, macOS up 0.8% YoY to 7.5%
New numbers show 2020 was the first year that Chromebooks outsold Macs, posting impressive market share gains at the expense of Windows.
Context & Ripple Effects
Chrome OS had already edged past Macs in a U.S. quarter in 2016, following an education market where Chromebook sales had risen sharply. IDC's 2020 annual ranking turns that earlier signal into a broader operating-system milestone.
The annual share move aligns with record Chromebook shipments in 2020, while Windows remained the overwhelmingly dominant PC operating system despite its decline.
First-order effects
- Chromebooks move ahead of Macs in IDC's 2020 annual OS share measure, giving Chrome OS a stronger position against Apple in the PC market.
- Windows loses share while retaining 80.5% of the market, making its decline meaningful in percentage points but not a loss of overall platform leadership.
Second-order effects
- Google gains a larger Chrome OS installed base to support its subsequent push for Android apps on the platform, where it later reported 50% year-over-year growth in users engaging with Android apps.
- PC makers selling Chromebooks gain validation for expanding low-cost Chrome OS portfolios, while Apple and Microsoft face a more credible alternative in segments that had fueled Chromebook adoption.
Third-order effects
- The 2020 result points to a PC market in which operating-system share can shift quickly with device demand; the later 51.4% Chromebook shipment decline in Q2 2022 shows that the gain was not a permanently linear reset.
- If Chrome OS sustains a larger base, platform competition increasingly turns on application availability and OEM distribution rather than Windows' historical share advantage alone.
The trend: Chrome OS is becoming a consequential third PC platform, but its share trajectory is closely tied to volatile Chromebook shipment cycles.