Thu May 21, 2015 12:55pm EDT USA

Market research firm Gartner Inc estimated 7.3 million Chromebooks would be sold this year, helped mainly by demand from the education industry.

Chromebooks are computers powered by Google Inc's Chrome Operating System, designed to be used primarily online.

Gartner said its sales estimate was an increase of 27 percent from 2014, when the education industry accounted for 72 percent of sales.

Despite an interest about Chromebooks among small and medium businesses, demand from businesses was yet to pick up, Gartner said.

North America was the biggest market in 2014, accounting for 84 percent sales. While EMEA fetched 11 percent sales, Asia pacific contributed less than 3 percent, with demand in Australia, New Zealand and Japan.