Paced by the iPhone 4S, Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iOS platform accounted for 71 percent of total activations overall, with Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android operating system garnering the remaining 29 percent share, according to data collected by Good Technology from its enterprise customers.
Good makes mobile device management software for enterprises, helping IT administrators provision and manage handsets and tablets based on Apple's and Google's platforms to corporate employees. The company's customers include Walmart and Fender.
As Good itself noted, the company's enterprise end users displayed a "clear preference for Apple" iPhones and iPads. Indeed, Apple's total device activation share in the fourth quarter was up from 68 percent in the third quarter, while Android's share fell from 32 percent in Q3.
The iPhone 4S paced smartphone growth among enterprise customers served by Good Technology, accounting for 31 percent of all activations for the fourth quarter, Good revealed Jan. 25.
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Good attributed this to employees bringing their shiny new iPhone 4S devices into the workplace, part of the industrywide "bring your own device" (BYOD) trend the sector is undergoing.
Apple began selling its iPhone 4S, an improvement over the iPhone 4 with a faster processor, better camera and the Siri virtual assistant, Oct. 14 from AT&T (NYSE:T), Verizon Wireless and Sprint (NYSE:S).
The handset helped power Apple to over 37 million handset sales for Q4, Apple reported Jan. 24.
iPhone 4S wasn't the only popular device in Good's report. The iPhone 4 made up 17.6 percent of activations, followed by the iPad 2 with 15 percent of activations.
Apple's iPad represented 94 percent of total tablet activations among Good's customers, with the remaining 6 percent activations from various Android tablets, led by Samsung's Galaxy Tab. Apple sold 15.4 million iPads in the fourth quarter. Good said 42 percent of iPads activated on its network came in the financial services sector.
At 1.7 percent, the Android 2.3 Gingerbread-based Samsung Galaxy S II smartphone from AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile led Android activations on Good's data network.
That phone was followed by the Motorola (NYSE:MMI) Droid Bionic (1.5 percent), Motorola Droid 3 (1.3 percent), Sprint EVO 4G (1.3 percent) and Motorola Droid X2 (0.8 percent).
Looking forward, Good anticipates iPad and iPad 2 activations will slow in Q1 and Q2 as customers prepare to buy the long-rumored iPad 3.
"If previous patterns hold, Good also expects Android smartphone activations to increase on a relative basis in Q1 and Q2 as the immediate impact of the iPhone 4S lessens, and as BYOD programs increasingly become the norm among Good's customers," the company said.
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