NPD’s numbers would have us believe Chromebook’s were nearly 50 times more popular (9.6% of the market vs. 0.2%) in a segment that grew 25% from last year. That’s rather remarkable as it would suggest sales increased perhaps sixtyfold.
What else grew 60x this year, besides bitcoin and chromebooks?
The quote is skeptical of those numbers - "would have us believe" is the indicator of that.
The entire article investigates whether the 60x number from NPD is plausible or not.
The article's conclusion seems to be: perhaps in one segment of the market, but it isn't clear which segment, yet at the same time it is clear that sales are in fact rising to some extent. One measurement shows a 10x increase, much of it very recent. So something interesting is going on, but we don't quite know what or how much.
The best way to answer this would be to get actual sales numbers from Google, and stop guessing using indirect sources.
While Google is unlikely to disclose actual sales figures, their marketing department likely has made some effort to figure out what is happening.
My (anecdotal, N=1) evidence is in seeing people who were frustrated by the iPad. The iPad really did a huge amount of volume and I'm hearing from a few people that they wanted something more like a Chromebook.
Skeptical is not the right word. The following sentence after the quote says there is some evidence. I would call the tone measured and probing, but not skeptical. I admit it's splitting hairs.
NPD’s numbers would have us believe Chromebook’s were nearly 50 times more popular (9.6% of the market vs. 0.2%) in a segment that grew 25% from last year. That’s rather remarkable as it would suggest sales increased perhaps sixtyfold.
What else grew 60x this year, besides bitcoin and chromebooks?