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Total iOS activations increased in the third quarter, representing 69 percent share of all mobile operating system activations, up from 67 percent in the previous quarter, while Android activation share dropped by an equal amount, according to Good Technology’s third-quarter Mobility Index report.
Good analyzed activations, by month, among all its global customers that had at least five activated devices over the quarter, to draw conclusions on the overall trends for net new activations across iOS, Android and Windows Phone platforms.
The introduction of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus appears to have made a significant impact on the overall share. While iOS made up 66 percent of all activations in the months of July and August, a drop of 1 percent from the previous quarter, iOS activations comprised 73 percent of September activations.
Despite being available for just part of the month of September, the iPhone 6 made up 17 percent of all activations for that month. Windows Phone activations remain consistent with the six previous quarters, making up 1 percent of total device activations, the report found.
Once again this quarter, iOS tablets maintained the vast majority of tablet activations. However, for the second straight quarter, Android slightly increased its share of total activations, now accounting for 11 percent of tablet activations.
In the third quarter, businesses continued to accelerate their transformation through custom-business apps, with 107 percent quarter-over-quarter and 731 percent year-over-year growth, continuing a trend of exponential growth in custom app development over the last three years.
The report also strongly indicated app usage by form factor differed substantially. Custom apps were a clear leader on smartphones, representing 29 percent of all smartphone apps. However, secure IM and secure browser followed as the next most widely utilized apps on this form factor, while document-oriented apps followed further behind.
“While expected, the high rate of growth in custom apps is certainly surprising,” Lynn Lucas, chief marketing officer at Good Technology, told eWEEK. “Over 100 percent gain from last quarter demonstrates the significant investment organizations are making in developing custom apps that drive their unique business advantage.”
In contrast, document editing was the clear winner for most popular applications on tablets, representing 36 percent of the apps on tablets, with customs apps following at 27 percent.
Meanwhile, the report indicated secure browser and secure IM proved less popular on these devices.
While businesses are using custom apps across all their devices, the usage pattern on smartphones and tablets do seem to diverge, according to survey results.
For instance, smartphone users utilize their devices primarily to get quick access to pertinent information, while tablet users are using their tablets for more involved document-oriented workflows.
“With unrelenting change the norm in mobile, what remains a constant is that you can’t count on the status quo remaining the same,” Lucas noted. “Windows Phone is holding its own, and we’re hearing a lot of interest in Windows Surface Pro from organizations globally.”