Google is bringing its Chromebooks to nine more countries around the world, and it’s heralding their arrival with a flourish of verse.
“Chromebooks are coming to nine more nations, to improve computing for all generations,” the company waxed lyrically in a blog post Monday.
The low-cost, Web-powered laptops are already available in many markets. They’re now also coming to New Zealand, the Philippines, Norway, Denmark, Mexico, Chile, Belgium, Spain and Italy, Google said.
“So we’d like to say our Hellos, to our new global Chromebook fellows. Kia ora to our New Zealand mates, where getting on-line will have shorter waits,” the poem continues.
They’ll be sold online and through a variety of brick-and-mortar retailers in those countries, including Office Depot in Mexico and Dick Smith in New Zealand. The retail outlets may eventually be listed on the Chromebook website.
The models offered will vary by country but include the Acer C720, HP Chromebook 14 and Toshiba Chromebook 13. Google said they will start to arrive in the coming weeks.
ABI Research has estimated that 2.1 million Chromebooks shipped in 2013, at an average price of US$338. That’s a small drop in the overall market for PCs and tablets, but ABI still calls them a “disruptive force” in the laptop arena.
The devices are designed to run Google services and apps like Gmail, Drive and Docs. They depend somewhat on Internet access, though many of the apps can run in offline mode.