Report: Continuous Rise in iOS, Android in the Enterprise

A provider of secure and managed enterprise mobility for iPhone (News - Alert), iPad, Android and other leading smartphone platforms, Good Technology, has released its second quarterly data report detailing the changing landscape of IT and mobile enterprise technology.

The trend of personal smartphones infiltrating the workplace is being led by both Apple's iOS and Google's Android (News - Alert) smartphone platforms. In 4Q 2010, this trend continued to grow, but the iPad revolutionized the enterprise mobility landscape going from 0 percent of Good's activations in March 2010 up to 22 percent by the end of the year.

In a press release, John Herrema, senior vice president of corporate strategy at Good Technology (News - Alert), said, “If 2010 was all about the consumerization of enterprise, 2011 will be the year of the tablet. The iPad came out of nowhere to define this new category, and already we are seeing very compelling Android tablets entering the space, with more on the horizon.”

Some of the key points in the report include:

--iOS devices represented more than 65 percent of net new activations from October 1st through December 31st, 2010;
-- iPad's share of overall net activations grew from 14 percent to 22 percent over the quarter, and from 0 percent to 22 percent for all of 2010; 
--Android devices stayed steady at around 30 percent of all net new activations over the period, but represented over 40 percent of all smartphone (non tablet) activations; and 
--Windows Mobile devices and Symbian (News - Alert) devices dropped out of the "Top 10" activated devices in 4Q 2010.

As per the findings of the report, iOS, supported by the iPad, remained the most-activated platform by Good's customers in 4Q 2010, and had roughly twice the activations of Android for the full year. However, iOS and Android had remarkably parallel growth trajectories from October through December of 2010 and in the smartphone category, Android devices represented 42 percent of all smartphones activated while various iPhone models represented 58 percent. A decline was seen in Windows Mobile activations in 4Q 2010.

Recently, Good Technology released a report that found that large UK businesses are getting increased pressure from employees to support the use of personal mobile devices in the workplace, as the popularity of iPhones and Androids continues to climb.

Sujata Garud is a TMCnet freelancer with three years of writing/editing experience and two years of market research experience. As an editor she has covered the IT, electronics, banking, pharma, construction, mining and healthcare industries. To see more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Janice McDuffee