Apple's iPhone and Google Android top a recent survey of enterprise workers' smartphones, outpacing RIM's BlackBerry and Windows Phone.
Apple's
iPhone and Google Android continue to make inroads among enterprise users,
outpacing both Research In Motion's BlackBerry and Microsoft's smartphone
efforts, according to iPass' Mobile Workforce Report.
The
quarterly report is based on 2,300 responses from employees at 1,100
enterprises worldwide, according to iPass. Some 49 percent of respondents were
based in North America, another 32 percent in Europe and 12 percent in the
Asia/Pacific region. Some 95 percent of mobile workers now have smartphones,
according to the survey, representing a rise from 85 percent last year. Of
those, about 91 percent use their smartphone for work-related duties, an
increase from 69 percent in 2010.
According
to the survey, some 45 percent of mobile workers rely on Apple's iPhone, a rise
from 31 percent in 2010. That outpaces BlackBerry with 32.2 percent (down from
34.5 percent last year), Android with 21.3 percent (up from 11.3 percent) and
"Microsoft Windows Mobile"-which presumably also includes Windows Phone-with
5.5 percent (down from 9.6 percent).
Symbian/Nokia
was good for 7.4 percent of the total respondent base, down from 12.4 percent
in 2010. With Nokia planning to abandon homegrown operating systems such as
Symbian in favor of Windows Phone, this segment will presumably continue to
fall into 2012.
BlackBerry
also faces some significant challenges. "In 2012, it looks like iPhone
will continue to lead in the enterprise, followed by Android smartphones with
Microsoft Windows Mobile smartphones a distant third," read a summary of
the
report.
"The day of the BlackBerry-only shop is becoming a thing of the past, with
only 28 percent of mobile workers given no choice when it came to smartphone
selection."
The
proliferation of different smartphone brands in the enterprise, in fact, is
apparently leading to some IT administrators deciding to end their BlackBerry
programs. "Four percent of mobile employees reported that their companies
had or were in the process of discontinuing support for the BlackBerry,
followed by the Nokia/Symbian, and Microsoft Windows Mobile," the report
summary added. "In 2012, as the mobile workforce grows and as iPhone and
Android deployments soar, BlackBerry adoption will remain stagnant. These
numbers remain consistent globally."
Events
over the next few quarters could radically shift the market. RIM is prepping a
line of QNX-based "superphones" to replace its longstanding line of
BlackBerry devices running BlackBerry OS. Microsoft is making a hard push for
Windows Phone, in conjunction with Nokia and other manufacturing partners. And
Apple is targeting the midmarket with a cheaper iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS. By
this time in 2012, therefore, the market numbers could look radically
different.
Follow
Nicholas Kolakowski on Twitter
Email
Print
