Acer today debuts its first Chromebook optimized for Cloud gaming - the Acer Chromebook 516 GE. With it, customers can enjoy a top-tier gaming experience with instant access to full PC and console games powered by the cloud. The new Acer Chromebook 516 GE is powered by the latest technology and features that matter most to gamers - 12th Gen Intel Core processors, a fast 120 Hz display, an RGB keyboard with anti-ghosting technology, advanced DTS audio, and most importantly, support for leading cloud gaming platforms including the highest performance tier of NVIDIA's GeForce NOW, Xbox Cloud Gaming (Beta), and Amazon Luna.

"The Acer Chromebook 516 GE sets the stage for a new era of Chromebooks with the focus squarely on gaming; it combines the ideal collection of gaming hardware, game-streaming support for NVIDIA GeForce NOW's top tier and easy access to popular game titles from the leading cloud gaming platforms," said James Lin, General Manager, Notebooks, IT Products Business, Acer Inc. "Chromebooks have secured their position as an indispensable tool for education, work, entertainment and personal productivity, so now it's time to have more fun."

Google found out that nobody wants to spend four-figures on a Chromebook, no matter how premium it looks or works. The company has reportedly decided to cancel the next-generation of Pixelbook, its take on a stock, premium Chromebook with fairly powerful hardware, and first-rate device aesthetics. It was meant as a technology demonstrator for all that the Chromebook can do, and how the Chromebook platform itself is meant as an evolution of the PC. The Verge reports that Google cancelled Pixelbook and shut down the team building it. Members of the team have been internally transferred within Google. The decision is being seen as unexpected, as Google hinted at I/O that it would keep Pixelbook going.

Starting next year, AMD will move to a new model number scheme for its mobile processors and it appears that the company has decided to use the first digit to represent the model year, which should alleviate some past confusion. The second digit in the model name will represent where in the product stack the specific chip will sit and here we're potentially getting some new 6 and 8 models, although nothing guarantees that AMD will actually implement these segments into real products. The third digit represents the architecture, so a four equals Zen 4 for example.

The last digit in the model names is a new addition where AMD has sub SKUs that offer some performance advantage of the base SKU of a specific model and this digit will apparently only be represented by a 0 or a 5. Finally AMD has added a new suffix too, where C stands for Chromebook. This translates to 15-28 Watt chips that have been designed specifically for Chromebook usage. The current HX, HS and U suffix lettering will carry over, alongside the lower-case e for 9 W versions the U SKUs. AMD has also segmented it's mobile CPUs according to the chart below, to try and deliver a clearer use case for its various CPU models. The chart is pretty self explanatory, although some of the segmentation will apply to updated models of current designs, whereas others will only apply to new laptop designs. The new model numbering scheme will apply to at least 2025.

CTL announced today the support of CBRS in the updated NL72L and NL72CT-L. "Digital equity and inclusion is a priority for CTL and we believe by adding additional communication technologies to our products, we are one step closer to solving the digital divide. Band 48 has been requested by our most innovative customers, and are excited to address this need in the market." - Erik Stromquist, CEO

Band 48 CBRS (Citizens Broadband Radio Service), often referred to as the private LTE, is the frequency band of 3.50 GHz, operating in the LTE spectrum in the United States, and is perfect for services that require ultra-high resources. LTE was designed to work across a wide range of frequency bands (450 MHz up to 3.80 GHz) referred to as E-UTRA. The LTE technology is capable of supporting two modes of communication, FDD (Frequency Division Duplex) and TDD (Time Division Duplex).

Belkin, a global consumer electronics leader, today introduces two new multiport solutions, adding to its impressive connectivity category. The CONNECT USB-C 5-in-1 adapter and CONNECT 6-in-1 hub make it easy to share content between devices, connect multiple components for enhanced productivity, and connect people safely and securely to the things they love. Both products are available to order now.

Designed with the growing number of Chromebook users in mind, the multiport adapter offers robust capabilities with a simple design, allowing for data, video, Ethernet and power all to pass through a single cable connection. This docking station is WWCB certified, featuring Chromebook optimized features and providing automatic firmware updates directly through Chrome OS for an enhanced connectivity experience. Additionally, the adapter provides Power Delivery up to 86 W to charge connected devices, ensuring a more reliable and fast charge.

Acer unveiled today the new Acer Chromebook Vero 514 - the first Chromebook in its line of eco-conscious Vero devices that reflects the company's commitment to sustainability by offering consumers and commercial customers more options that allow them to reduce their ecological footprint. The new Acer Chromebook Vero 514 (CBV514-1H/T) features a thoughtful design that takes the entire product lifespan into consideration, since it is easy to upgrade, repair, disassemble and recycle. It also uses recycled materials in most areas of the product including 30% post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastic in the chassis and 50% PCR plastic in the keycaps, 100% ocean-bound plastics on the touchpad surface and 90% recycled paper packaging.

"The simplicity, security and speed of Chromebooks are the ideal complements to our Vero line's focus on delivering powerful devices that keep an eye on the environment," said James Lin, General Manager, Notebooks, IT Products Business, Acer Inc. "The new Acer Chromebook Vero 514 is the next step in embodying our Earthion mission by developing eco-friendlier products that have a positive ecological impact on our customers' businesses, homes and schools."

ASUS today announced ASUS Chromebook CX1, an all-new lightweight and sustainable laptop with trendy aesthetics, and designed to empower modern on-the-go lifestyles. With up to a bright, clear FHD 14-inch display, ASUS Chromebook CX1 is powered by up to a quad-core Intel Pentium Silver processor. It's also engineered with WiFi 6 (802.11ax) and a long-lasting battery that delivers up to 12 hours of productivity on a single charge, handing users the freedom to breeze through everyday tasks. A 180° hinge allows it to be fully opened and laid completely flat on a desk or table, making it easy to share ideas, visuals, samples and designs when working with friends, colleagues or clients.

With smooth performance, robust security and convenient features, ASUS Chromebook CX1 is perfect for empowering seamless entertainment and productivity for everyone—and primed for the post-pandemic world of hybrid work and learning. ASUS Chromebook CX1 embodies pure style with a distinctively trendy look and feel. The lightweight, 1.47 kg design also embraces sustainability, incorporating recycled materials to make it more environmentally friendly. The 180° hinge allows the device to be laid completely flat on a desk, table or lap, making it easy to collaborate and share content with nearby friends or colleagues.

CTL announced today at ISTE LIve 22 the addition of a new touchscreen model to its Chromebook PX14 Series. Like the PX14E and 14EX, this new model is able to run multiple applications effortlessly as it's equipped with the latest technology in processors, connectivity, graphics and security.

All CTL Chromebook PX14 models feature Intel Jasper Lake processors that are up to 35% more powerful than previous generation processors, making them ideal both for use in K-12 Education and work from home environments. The PX14EX with touch features an Intel Jasper Lake Quad-Core N5100 CPU with 8 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage.

With the launch of Apple Silicon for Mac computers, Apple has established itself as a great user of the Arm instruction set. Starting with M1, the company released an entirely new family of products running Apple Silicon. Today, thanks to the research of Strategy Analytics company, we have information that Apple is capturing as much as 90% of the revenue share present in the Arm PC market. The Arm PC market is a tiny subset of the entire PC market, mainly equipped with one-off Windows-on-Arm devices, Chromebook PCs, and Apple Macs. With the naturally low prices of the remaining Arm PCs, Apple Arm PCs offer a relatively high price point and a much more incredible selection of products.

On the global scale, Arm PCs now account for 9% of the total PC market share, where x86 vendors are dominating the field. "Apple's M-series family of processors set the benchmark and gave Apple a 2-3-year lead over the rest of the Arm-based PC processor vendors. Qualcomm captured just 3% revenue share in the Arm-based notebook PC processor market in 2021 and lags Apple in CPU performance," said Sravan Kundojjala, Director of Handset Component Technologies service at Strategy Analytics. This points to a particular case of Apple's better product and feeding the demand with higher-performing processors. Qualcomm's acquisition of Nuvia should yield different results in the coming years, as the new IP is yet to appear in Qualcomm SoCs.

Acer today launched new Chromebooks designed for businesses, consumers and families that provide the latest performance updates and durable MIL-STD 810H designs. Extra features help Acer Chrome OS customers get the most from their device for functions like remote working, entertainment, as well as staying productive on-the-go.

"Acer continues to lead the industry in premium Chromebooks that are highly-capable, feature-rich and deliver the exact Chromebook experience our customers want," said James Lin, General Manager, Notebooks, IT Products Business, Acer Inc. "As new generations rely on their Chromebook to do more in their connected world - whether it's for work or personal projects - Acer's innovation will be the foundation of their productive and enjoyable experience."

Lenovo announced today at its Accelerate event in Las Vegas the new ThinkPad C14 Chromebook Enterprise laptop. The productivity boosting laptop delivers the reliability and durability expected from a ThinkPad with the cloud-based simplicity geared for a hybrid working world offered by Google Chrome OS. It comes in a distinguishing Abyss Blue design and offers more secure, connected, and collaborative features to empower businesses and front-line workers. Chrome OS further adds to the flexibility by providing end users with access to cloud-based applications and offering IT admins speedy deployment and simple management via the Google Admin console.

Providing employees with a portable, affordable, productivity boosting device allows organizations to be more agile. Add to that the power and flexibility of Google's Chrome OS and Intel's latest 12th Gen Intel Core processors, the ThinkPad C14 Chromebook Enterprise will enhance collaboration and enable better hybrid working capability with features to boost performance and connectivity with enhanced security while maintaining the portability needed for today's work-from-anywhere world.

According to TrendForce research, looking at NAND Flash wafers, the pricing of which more sensitively reflects the market, suppliers are increasingly motivated to cut prices in exchange for sales due to weak retail demand since March and a more conservative outlook for shipments of other end products. The price of NAND Flash wafers is expected to begin falling in May and the supply of NAND Flash will gradually overtake demand in 2H22. The price decline of NAND Flash wafers in 3Q22 may reach 5~10%.

At the same time, TrendForce indicates that February's contamination incident at Kioxia was expected to tighten the market in 2Q22 and 3Q22. However, as a consequence of rising inflation and the war between Russia and Ukraine, market demand for consumer products in the traditional peak season of the second half of the year is trending conservative and the prices of client SSD, eMMC, and UFS in 3Q22 will be flat compared to 2Q22, breaking from the original expectation that prices may rise. In terms of enterprise SSDs, as demand for data centers remains strong, no significant correction in demand has yet been observed. However, as the overall NAND Flash market gradually moves into oversupply, prices will only grow slightly by approximately 0~5% in 3Q22.

Acer today debuted its new high-performance Acer Chromebook Spin 514 convertible and durable Chromebook, powered by new AMD Ryzen 5000 C-series processors based on AMD "Zen 3" architecture and AMD Radeon graphics, also launched today. "Acer's continued partnership with AMD has resulted in award-winning Chromebooks that deliver the latest in powerful performance in thin-and-light designs," said James Lin, General Manager, Notebooks, IT Products Business, Acer Inc. "Acer Chromebook customers have pushed the boundaries for what they do with their Chromebook, and can do even more with the new Ryzen-powered Acer Chromebook Spin 514."

"We're proud to partner with Acer to introduce the new AMD processor-powered Acer Chromebook Spin 514," said Saeid Moshkelani, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Client Business Unit, AMD. "With the leadership performance of Ryzen 5000 C-Series processors, Acer's latest Chromebook is equipping consumers with technology that is putting collaboration and efficiency at the forefront of every classroom, office and creative space."

AMD today announced the Ryzen 5000C line of mobile processors for Chromebooks. This is the company's second generation of Chromebook-specific processors after the Ryzen 3000C series based on the original "Zen" microarchitecture. The 5000C series chips are based on "Zen 3," with CPU core counts of up to 8-core, and hence present a big leap in performance over the 3000C series, along with a complete suite of the latest connectivity, display technology, and security and management features specific to Chrome OS.

The Ryzen 5000C series is based on the 7 nm "Cezanne" monolithic silicon. The chip physically features an 8-core/16-thread CPU based on the "Zen 3" microarchitecture, with 16 MB of shared L3 cache; an iGPU based on the Vega graphics architecture, with 8 compute units (512 stream processors), a dual-channel DDR4 or LPDDR4/x memory interface, and unlike the conventional Ryzen 5000-series mobile processors, these chips come with a special microcode to match the security and management features of Chrome OS. AMD also supplies Chromebook vendors with timely driver updates for the various components on these chips.

Intel's Alder Lake family is apparently still growing and the latest leaks suggest that a new addition is on its way in the shape of the Alder Lake-N. This should be the most basic SKU of Alder Lake CPUs, as it'll only have "small" Gracemont cores and no Golden Cove cores at all, unlike all of its other siblings. The oddities don't stop here though, as these new CPUs won't even have any PCIe lanes from the CPU itself, beyond the chipset interconnect.

It's possible that these will be some kind of embedded parts, as Alder Lake-N is said to come with up to eight cores. The limitation of PCIe lines, of which apparently only a total of nine will be offered, is something that might make it less appealing for embedded systems, especially if it requires a separate chipset. It's possible that Intel has designed these new SKUs for Chromebooks or other budget notebooks, but they'd have to be priced extremely affordably to be appealing, considering how cheap Chromebooks already are. The chips are also said to feature a full GT1 Gen 12.2 GPU with up to 32 EUs, so graphics performance should at least be comparable to Alder Lake-S desktop parts. We'd hazard a guess that the GPU clocks will be a lot lower though.

CTL announced today at the TCEA Conference the introduction of its newest 14" Chromebooks, the CTL Chromebook PX14E and PX14EX. Running multiple applications is effortless with these devices as they are equipped with the latest technology in processors, connectivity, graphics and security.

The CTL Chromebook PX14E and PX14EX feature Intel Jasper Lake processors that are up to 35% more powerful than previous generation processors, making them ideal both for use in K-12 Education and work from home environments. While the PX14E features an Intel Jasper Lake Dual-Core N4500 CPU with 4 GB RAM and 64 GB of storage, the PX14EX is upgraded to an Intel Jasper Lake Quad-Core N5100 CPU with 8 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage.

MediaTek today announced its new Kompanio 1380 chip, which offers a new level of performance and best-in-class features for premium Chromebooks such as the new Acer Chromebook Spin 513. The Kompanio 1380 delivers incredible portable computing experiences with superb battery life, all in a compact form factor for slim and lightweight devices. "Kompanio 1380 continues MediaTek's legacy as the No. 1 chipmaker for Arm-based Chromebooks, elevating premium Chromebook experiences with next-level performance and extra-long battery life," said PC Tseng, general manager of Intelligent Multimedia Business Unit at MediaTek. "This chip stands out with its outstanding processing performance, best-in-class multimedia and AI features, and smooth cloud gaming capabilities, all integrated into an ultra-efficient 6 nm chip."

"Chromebook users have come to expect more from their Chromebooks, increasingly they are looking for their devices to strike a perfect balance of performance, weight and power efficiency," said John Solomon, VP of Chrome OS at Google. "The Kompanio 1380 is an integral part of delivering a great experience for users whether they're working from home, enjoying media on the go, or anything in between. We're excited to see its versatility come to life on the Acer Chromebook Spin 513, the first product to launch with this chip."

Today Logitech announced the launch of the Logitech Pen, the newest K-12 stylus designed for touch screen Chromebooks that supports Universal Stylus Initiative (USI) standards and is Works With Chromebook certified. Research shows that when it comes to students retaining what they learn, the act of physically annotating during lessons makes a significant difference. Designed in collaboration with students and educators, for students and educators, the Logitech Pen provides the control they need to work and collaborate in new ways.

"Given that students and educators are increasingly using Chromebooks as an everyday tool in schools and at home, we created the Logitech Pen to unlock the full potential of Chromebooks in the classroom," said Michele Hermann, Vice President of Mobility and Head of Education Solutions at Logitech. "The Logitech Pen is notably transforming how students utilize their Chromebooks, enabling these devices to become even more essential tools in active learning through annotation, sketching, and note taking, which are proven to increase comprehension and retention."

Due to the pandemic, laptops shipments reached a record high of 240 million units in 2021, according to TrendForce's investigations. However, the market has been abuzz recently and, as the global population of the fully vaccinated has exceeded 50%, relevant demand driven by the pandemic is expected to gradually weaken. Shipment volume will decrease by 3.3% year-on-year, revised down slightly to 238 million units. Chromebooks will account for approximately 12.3% of shipment volume, though it accounted for approximately 15.2% in 2021. The momentum of shipments has slowed down significantly which indicates that demand derived from the economic effect of remote working and teaching has subsided.

Acer today unveiled three new Chromebooks designed for consumers needing a secure, easy-to-use, and affordable device for productivity, entertainment and communication. These new Chromebooks come in three sizes and form factors, and are furnished with everything consumers need, plus exceptional audio and video technology for entertainment and video conferencing.

"This new trio of Acer Chromebooks offers the best of several worlds; they deliver solid performance capabilities, have great extra features, and give users the latest technology while staying within budget," said James Lin, General Manager, Notebooks, IT Products Business, Acer Inc. "Today's users need a reliable, easy-to-use means to stay productive, connected and entertained when they're at home—these three new Acer Chromebooks fit that bill."

Demand for NAND Flash products will undergo a noticeable and cyclical downward correction in 1Q22 as major smartphone brands wind down their procurement activities for the peak season and ODMs prepare for the New Year holidays, according to TrendForce's latest investigations. As such, the NAND Flash market will remain in an oversupply situation, with prices continuing to undergo downward corrections accordingly. However, PC OEMs have been reinstating certain orders for client SSDs since early November in response to improvements in the supply of upstream semiconductor materials. By fulfilling these orders, suppliers are able to keep their inventory level relatively low, meaning they are not under as much pressure as previously expected to reduce inventory by lowering prices. Taking these factors into account, TrendForce expects NAND Flash ASP to undergo a 10-15% QoQ decline in 1Q22, during which NAND Flash prices will experience the most noticeable declines compared to the other quarters in 2022.

Regarding the price trend of NAND Flash products across the whole 2021, TrendForce further indicates that suppliers have actively transitioned their output to higher-layer technologies, resulting in a bit supply growth that noticeably outpaces demand, though the tight supply of components such as controller ICs and PMICs has constrained the production of NAND Flash end-products. Hence, the decline in contract prices of NAND Flash products has not been as severe as previously expected. Moving ahead to 2022, however, the supply of relevant components is expected to gradually improve, so the market for various NAND Flash products will also likely shift towards a noticeable oversupply. As a result, prices of NAND Flash products will steadily decline before the arrival of the peak season in 3Q22.

Historically, AMD was working with two semiconductor manufacturing companies: TSMC and GlobalFoundries. According to the latest report coming from Gokul Hariharan, an analyst at J.P. Morgan, AMD could soon tap another semiconductor manufacturer to produce the company's growing list of processors. As the report indicates, AMD could start working with the South Korean giant Samsung and utilize the firm's 4LPP process that represents a second generation of the low-power 4 nm silicon node. This specific node is allegedly the choice for AMD APUs designed to fit inside Google's Chromebook devices, which require low-power designs to achieve excellent battery life.

AMD could realize this move in late 2022, as Samsung's 4LPP node goes into mass production at that point. It means that we could see the first Samsung-made AMD APUs in late 2022 or the beginning of 2023. And apparently, the two company's collaboration could be much more significant as AMD is evaluating Samsung's 3 nm nodes for other products spanning more segments in 2023/2024. There are no official, definitive agreements between the two, so we have to wait for more information and official responses from these parties. Anyways, if AMD decides to produce a part of its lineup at Samsung, the remaining TSMC capacity would ensure that the supply of every incoming chip remains sufficient.

During the annual Snapdragon Tech Summit, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. expanded the portfolio of solutions for Always On, Always Connected PCs with the introduction of the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 compute platform, designed to deliver the performance and exceptional experiences users deserve in premium ultra-slim and fanless laptops. To strengthen the entry-tier Windows PC and Chromebook ecosystems with robust 5G connectivity and advanced AI experiences, the Company also unveiled the Snapdragon 7c+ Gen 3 Compute Platform. Both platforms utilize smart, connected technology to modernize PC experiences and redefine mobile computing for end users.

"Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 builds on the technology that has transformed the PC industry, delivering premium experiences with breakthrough performance per watt, immersive camera and audio with enhanced AI-acceleration, lightning-fast 5G connectivity, and chip-to-cloud security in thin, fanless systems," says Miguel Nunes, vice president, product management, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. "With Snapdragon 7c+ Gen 3, we are raising the bar in the entry-tier by extending 5G mobile computing across ecosystems. Whether for consumers, business, or education, Snapdragon compute platforms deliver the capabilities and experiences that our ecosystem customers and end users need."

Jon Peddie Research reports the growth of the global PC-based Graphics Processor Units (GPU) market reached 101 million units in Q3'21 and PC CPUs shipments increased by 9% year over year. Overall, GPUs will have a compound annual growth rate of -1.1% during 2020-2025 and reach an installed base of 3,249 million units at the end of the forecast period. Over the next five years, the penetration of discrete GPUs (dGPU) in the PC will grow to reach a level of 31%.

AMD's overall market share percentage from last quarter increased 1.4%, Intel's market share decreased by -6.2%, and Nvidia's market share increased 4.86%, as indicated in the following chart.

Belkin, a global consumer electronics leader, today unveils the Works With Chromebook certified USB-C 14-Port Docking Station at InfoComm 2021. The docking station joins four power and connectivity solutions in Belkin's family of certified Works With Chromebook products. Each product is tested to meet Google's compatibility standards and equips any organization with the solutions that make adapting to evolving technology simple and seamless.

Engineered with the growing number of Chrome OS users in mind, the USB-C 14-Port Docking Station is capable of automatic firmware updates through Chrome OS and offers wide compatibility with all Chromebooks for an enhanced and seamless connectivity experience. It is designed to house multiple ports for extreme productivity - HDMI 2.0, DP 1.4, USB-C, USB 3.1 Gen 2, 65 W PD 3.0, Gigabit Ethernet, Audio In/Out - providing users with the option to display, connect and charge with one simple and modern solution.