ABI Research had a look  at Chromebooks, laptops and ultraportable PCs and, after shuffling its tarot cards, came up with a five-year forecast on industry trends.

It thinks that Chromebooks will continue to lead growth for the notebook PC category, with Chrome OS systems expected to ship more than 8 million units by year's end, with a 22% CAGR over the next five years. 

Jeff Orr, Research Director at ABI Research.said that industry professionals can expect the notebook PC market, including Chromebooks, laptops and ultraportable PCs, to remain roughly flat year-on-year in 2015, with flat to slightly positive growth projected through 2020.

"Specifically, data suggests a 2016 sales surge in both Chromebooks and ultraportable PCs as consumers continue to adopt Chromebooks into classroom settings and 2-in-1 ultraportable PCs maintain their trend status as the future of portable computing."

An  estimated 163 million notebook PCs will ship worldwide during 2015. The ultraportable PC and laptop segments are set to decline in 2015 by 14% when compared to 2014. This is primarily due to unit volume losses at Acer, ASUS and Lenovo, among others.

The departure of long-time vendors Samsung and Sony from this market category also significantly dampened this year's data figures. Additionally, Apple is predicted to close out 2015 with 32% share of the ultraportable PC segment, specifically due to its MacBook Air models.

"Historically, laptops, being the mainstay portable computer, accounted for most of the unit volume in this market," concludes Orr. "As the future unfolds, it will be interesting to watch the rise in ultraportable PCs, with many technology suppliers, such as Intel, already coming out with advanced portable computing configurations aimed to maximize product flexibility,"  Orr said.