According to the latest , out of all the computing products this year, Chromebooks experienced the largest amount of growth. What was once thought of as a minor competitor for the laptop ended up accounting for roughly one out of every five notebooks sold in 2013. The previous year it barely even registered in terms of sales. So why on earth are these devices so popular?

This is rather surprising when you consider the features that the Chromebooks offer. Previously I wrote about how I thought Chromebooks failed to deliver an experience equivalent to what a good tablet or even a slightly more affordable laptop could provide. Users of Chromebooks are essentially tied into online computing and most of the Google web services such as GMail, Google+ and Google Docs. This has been improved by Google with the ability for offline document editing and a greater selection of Apps for ChromeOS, but it still pales in comparison to that available for Windows, Android or iOS.

I think the driving factor for the Chromebook is pricing. The number one factor that most people seem to base their computing purchases on these days is price. This is also a major reason why there are so many Android tablets and smartphones selling as they tend to be much more affordable. But for those that want a full laptop form factor with a keyboard and trackpad, the starting price for most laptops is around $400 or more. Most of the Chromebooks now sold are priced under $300. In fact, half of the top ten selling laptops according to Amazon currently are Chromebooks from Acer, Samsung and even HP.