Asustek Computer is expected to see its Chromebook shipments top one million units in 2019, thanks to its close relationship with Google and steady supplies from contract manufacturing partners Pegatron and Quanta Computer, according to industry sources.

Asustek is ready to launch its 9.7-inch CT100 tablet in the first quarter of 2019, equipped with Rockchip's 6-core OP1 processor, 4GB of memory, 32GB of storage ROM and priced at around US$300.

In March-April, Asustek will release the 360-degree rotatable Chromebook Flip C434, targeting the high-end consumer market segment, with a starting price of US$569. The Chromebook features a 14-inch narrow-bezel design and a battery life of 10 hours. The company will also begin selling its new 14-inch C403 before the end of the first quarter, while the 11.6-inch C204 is scheduled for the second quarter.

For the education market, Asustek currently has two models available, the C202 and C213; while for the consumer market, it has the C101, C423 and C523.

Currently, the Chromebook market is dominated by the top-4 players: Hewlett-Packard (HP), Dell, Acer and Samsung Electronics. Although demand for consumer notebooks has been weakening, shipments of enterprise, gaming and Chromebook models continue enjoying growths or staying flat, attracting notebook players to invest heavily in the three segments.

Although sales of Chromebooks were weaker than expected initially when released in 2011, shipments in the past two years already reached 10-12 million units thanks to their friendly prices and improved ChromeOS functionalities. The market so far still accounts for less than 10% of overall notebook shipments, but brand vendors are still optimistic about them.

Meanwhile, AMD has also cooperated with Acer and HP to cross into the Chromebook market and HP's new AMD-based model is expected to start selling at US$249 later in January. Since the market still faces shortages of Intel's entry-level to mid-range CPUs, several first-tier brand vendors have already increased their adoption of AMD's solutions, giving AMD a chance to break the 10% level in annual notebook market share.