The Chrome OS line will be expanding next year, following LG’s announcement of the first all in one Chromebase. For over two years now, Chrome OS has mainly been fitted on cheap netbooks and one ‘Chrome Box’, not it will be on a desktop.
This not only changes the scope of Chrome OS, it also looks to further differentiate the operating system from Google’s other, Android. If Google can show the Chromebase as a brilliant machine for work and social, it may boost sales and popularity in the desktop community.
The question is if the LG Chromebase really has any market at all – the lions share of Chrome OS is owned by Samsung and their Chromebook and many OEM partners have tried and failed to break through into the market in the past two years.
Chromebase may be a great way to show off the power of Chrome OS and push new designs forward to OEM partners, but has anyone really said they want an all-in-one PC that runs Chrome OS – instead of Windows or Mac.
The problem there is both Mac and Windows offer incredibly powerful user experiences, not just when it comes to applications but in the gaming world too – Chrome OS only offers browser based games.
Since a larger margin of active desktop users are big gaming fans, it is going to be hard for the Chromebase to take off, especially when there is no real reason to choose a high-power desktop over a Windows or Macintosh all-in-one.
Unless LG slap an incredibly low price on the Chromebase, it doesn’t matter how fancy the thing looks or how much horsepower it has inside. Chrome OS is a low-end operating system and unless it is on a low-end machine, it is pointless. If you are looking for an example – see Chromebook Pixel.
LG has announced this but will give it an official unveiling at CES 2014, in January.
