Survey shows 26% of mobile workers plan to get an iPad

Posted:
in iPad edited January 2014
Over a quarter of mobile employees plan to purchase or receive an iPad in the next 6 months, according to a new survey.



The results were published Tuesday in a quarterly Mobile Workforce Report from iPass, a leading provider of enterprise mobility services. The report's survey, which took place in July, included over 1,100 mobile enterprise employees from North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific.



Mobile employees are defined by iPass as "any worker using any mobile device (including laptop, netbook, smartphone, cellphone or tablet) who accesses networks (other than the corporate LAN or WLAN) for work purposes."



Of the employees surveyed, 9.3% have an iPad, 6.8% have a tablet PC, and 1.7% have both. 26.3% of respondents are planning to purchase or receive an iPad in the next 6 months, compared to 6.9% planning to get a tablet PC.







When further questioned about how they would use an iPad or tablet PC, the overwhelming majority of the respondents said they would use the devices for at least some work. Of the 50% of mobile employees surveyed who either already have a tablet PC or iPad or are planning to buy one in the next 6 months, over 90% expected to use the devices for work.



According to the report, employees who pay their own mobile phone bills were more likely to already have or plan to buy an iPad.



The Mobile Workforce Report survey results coincide with a report by The Wall Street Journal Tuesday highlighting growing iPad adoption rates among IT departments at companies.



In a survey of its customers in June, Citrix found that 80% of its business users have plans to purchase and use an iPad for business.



During an earnings call in July, Apple announced that over 50% of the Fortune 100 are currently deploying or testing the iPad.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 23
    You know how the dramatic icon of a researcher has forever been the guy or gal in the lab coat with the clipboard? Throw that one out the window. Now all they need is an iPad with some sort of suggestive form showing on its face.



    Apple has single-handedly killed the clipboard industry.
  • Reply 2 of 23
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by BuzzMega View Post


    You know how the dramatic icon of a researcher has forever been the guy or gal in the lab coat with the clipboard? Throw that one out the window. Now all they need is an iPad with some sort of suggestive form showing on its face.



    Apple has single-handedly killed the clipboard industry.



    Well this is good. First the iPad was going to take over notebooks. Slate computing was going to kill the notebook market. Then when that didn't happen it was a Kindle Killer. Now that the Kindle is still around we are now looking to take over the clipboard market.



    You can at least multitask on a clipboard so why don't we at least wait for that update before killing the clipboard market.
  • Reply 3 of 23
    daharderdaharder Posts: 1,580member
    "The results were published Tuesday in a quarterly Mobile Workforce Report from iPass"... iPass - Really?
  • Reply 4 of 23
    "Changing platforms (e.g., from iPhone to Android) is

    fairly seamless. Vendors who believe they can lock in

    share are overestimating the loyalty of the consumer

    market, and underestimating the power of the business

    market."



    Not sure if I agree.. as my investment in purchased App's is a pretty good lock in (no one wants to spend money twice), but I guess it just underlines that it (slate/tablet devices) are a new and fluid market and while Apple are an early leader, there is room for growth and change.



    (plus you can choose your statistics and quotes to suit your argument!)
  • Reply 5 of 23
    t2aft2af Posts: 44member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MsftMacMan View Post


    "Changing platforms (e.g., from iPhone to Android) is

    fairly seamless. Vendors who believe they can lock in

    share are overestimating the loyalty of the consumer

    market, and underestimating the power of the business

    market."




    i also don't agree. there are core apps on my phone that i wouldn't switch unless there were good alternatives on the other platform. This is exactly what apple is fighting for, unique experience and not the one app all platform strategy that adoble was trying to push out.
  • Reply 6 of 23
    onhkaonhka Posts: 1,025member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MsftMacMan View Post


    "Changing platforms (e.g., from iPhone to Android) is

    fairly seamless. Vendors who believe they can lock in

    share are overestimating the loyalty of the consumer

    market, and underestimating the power of the business

    market."



    Not sure if I agree.. as my investment in purchased App's is a pretty good lock in (no one wants to spend money twice), but I guess it just underlines that it (slate/tablet devices) are a new and fluid market and while Apple are an early leader, there is room for growth and change.



    (plus you can choose your statistics and quotes to suit your argument!)



    After reading the entire report, I think the author meant to say,



    ""Changing platforms (e.g., from iPhone to Android) is fairly seamless. However, vendors who believe they can lock in share are overestimating the loyalty of the consumer market, and underestimating the power of the business market."



    Which seems to makes more sense.
  • Reply 7 of 23
    lilgto64lilgto64 Posts: 1,147member
    One problem with large contracts for commodity (or close to it) items - for example Cash Registers (also known as Point of Sale POS systems) - is that your competitor is always just around the corner waiting for a lease to expire etc - and lowballing your proposal with reduced hardware acquisition or reduced monthly maintenance or software support costs etc. That is why every few years you see new cash registers going in at your grocery store, pet store, etc. Sure sometimes they add new functions such as self check out - but generally speaking it is not the end users (the cashiers) who want to switch from IBM to NEC for example - in fact, generally speaking the end users would likely tell you they would rather not switch platforms because the transition can be difficult - even within the relatively simple environment of a POS system. On the flip side - the employees are generally not aware of changes the company may be planning to make 6 months in the future - and the company itself may not be planning to change - until they are close enough to be getting bids from competitors or a new higher maintenance cost from the current vendor etc. or in other words a survey of what end users are expecting to happen in 6 months at any company may be very different than what actually happens.
  • Reply 8 of 23
    msuberlymsuberly Posts: 234member
    Everyone with a job and a cell phone would be a "mobile worker" according to this study. Excepting the unemployed, retirees, kids without jobs and those very few employed people without a cell phone/laptop/wi-fi, does the author really think that 26% of the remaining population will buy an iPad?
  • Reply 9 of 23
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by msuberly View Post


    Everyone with a job and a cell phone would be a "mobile worker" according to this study. Excepting the unemployed, retirees, kids without jobs and those very few employed people without a cell phone/laptop/wi-fi, does the author really think that 26% of the remaining population will buy an iPad?



    I agree. Talk about a stretch. The survey might as well have said '26% of all workers plan to get an iPad.'
  • Reply 10 of 23
    Too bad that they will find out it is not capable of replacing notebook functions. Giving presentations, surfing and reading books is not everything.



    Once it has all functions of productivity suit then maybe iPad will be good replacement. Some of people however think that it is cool to carry some extra piece of fashinable equipment. Sure do it. No problem - stay cool.
  • Reply 11 of 23
    As a road warrior, the iPad has become one of the best things in my bag. Whilst I still need to take my work laptop with me (most of our applications are Windows only), the iPad has become essential for long flights. Being able to watch movies for the whole of a 12 hour flight, as opposed to the 4 that my laptop battery allows me, is fantastic.
  • Reply 12 of 23
    ted13ted13 Posts: 65member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by msuberly View Post


    Everyone with a job and a cell phone would be a "mobile worker" according to this study. Excepting the unemployed, retirees, kids without jobs and those very few employed people without a cell phone/laptop/wi-fi, does the author really think that 26% of the remaining population will buy an iPad?



    Exactly.



    This article is worthless unless a number is given for the number of mobile workers out there. Is it 100 million? 10 million? 1 million? 1 billion? Depending on the answer to that question, that 26% produces vastly different results.
  • Reply 13 of 23
    sheffsheff Posts: 1,407member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post




    Mobile employees are defined by iPass as "any worker using any mobile device (including laptop, netbook, smartphone, cellphone or tablet) who accesses networks (other than the corporate LAN or WLAN) for work purposes."







    When further questioned about how they would use an iPad or tablet PC, the overwhelming majority of the respondents said they would use the devices for at least some work. Of the 50% of mobile employees surveyed who either already have a tablet PC or iPad or are planning to buy one in the next 6 months, over 90% expected to use the devices for work.



    Can you be more broad about who is a mobile worker or more vague of what using a device for "work"?



    At least the iPad is kicking butt, but I think the green bar are those who are incorrectly identified as mobile workers, because even people that never have to leave office for work, still use smart phones outside the office for work.
  • Reply 14 of 23
    Until iOS supports editing of Google Docs, I'm afraid the only iPad in our household will be the pink one my wife uses for Solitaire and reading books at bedtime.
  • Reply 15 of 23
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by BuzzMega View Post


    You know how the dramatic icon of a researcher has forever been the guy or gal in the lab coat with the clipboard? Throw that one out the window. Now all they need is an iPad with some sort of suggestive form showing on its face.



    Apple has single-handedly killed the clipboard industry.



    But not the rest of the smart-tablet industry: since researchers aren't allowed to run R, Matlab, or any number of other interpreted languages essential to research on the iPad, they'll have to explore other options....
  • Reply 16 of 23
    lilgto64lilgto64 Posts: 1,147member
    The iPad cannot replace a workstation.



    If a Train Station is where the Trains Stop

    and a Bus Station is where the Busses Stop



    the a Workstation must be

    where the work stops



    and since the iPad allows you to get work done - its not a workstation.



    For Windows only apps - you could use a remote software access to a windows machine or possibly even a citrix server (or similar). While I have done just that - I would not want to do that all day every day, and on a plane for example you have to shut off your Wi-Fi and 3G access so not applicable in all situations. but still a good option if your need to access Windows only apps is not extensive.
  • Reply 17 of 23
    hirohiro Posts: 2,663member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by RationalTroll View Post


    But not the rest of the smart-tablet industry: since researchers aren't allowed to run R, Matlab, or any number of other interpreted languages essential to research on the iPad, they'll have to explore other options....



    That's being willfully pedantic. None of those researchers are going to use the current version of the iPad for everything, it wasn't built for that and unlike the thought process demonstrated by your observation, they aren't that stupid.



    And there is quite a bit of research-y stuff you can do on an iPad or iPhone if you aren't planning on App store distribution, and have an Enterprise Dev account (which is dirt cheap for an enterprise). Hmmm, maybe there already are researchers that know of this and are using it already to do custom things for themselves and colleagues that Apple would never allow in open App store distribution.



    So, maybe you just aren't imaginative enough to be a researcher. In that case, quit trying to tell those of us that can get things done that it's not possible to do what we have already done.
  • Reply 18 of 23
    pzelfpzelf Posts: 2member
    I like my iPad, i like my iPhone and i like my PC laptop.

    My experiance is that the iPad is great for fun browsing while laying on the couch. However when i need to do something work related i always grab my laptop computer.

    The iPad is not fit for work. Its a nice gadget but not something to work on in my oppinion!
  • Reply 19 of 23
    hirohiro Posts: 2,663member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by pzelf View Post


    I like my iPad, i like my iPhone and i like my PC laptop.

    My experiance is that the iPad is great for fun browsing while laying on the couch. However when i need to do something work related i always grab my laptop computer.

    The iPad is not fit for work. Its a nice gadget but not something to work on in my oppinion!



    Then you haven't tried very hard yet. I comes in very handy in my work, I just end up using it's capabilities to an advantage rather then try to get it to do something it isn't optimized for.



    My day planner and notebook are gone. Dead. Haven't used them in several weeks now. It has utterly replaced that part of my brain (I used to consider the planner/notebook an extension of my brain, 'cause it's where I remembered lots of stuff). But now I don't need to recopy anymore, I can find thing in that part of my brain far easier than I could a month ago. Since I use my brain to document just about everything and determine my day-to-day workflow, my new brain has made that significant part of my workflow easier.



    We never passed laptops around in meetings, and I more than suspect that several colleagues and students were actually not participating in the meeting but using the laptop to mentally escape. But now that the group has iPads, they cannot privately surf anymore, and the meetings are better because everyone is actually paying attention for once. And when someone pulls up a relevant document we just pass the iPad around to look, and the physical action tends to make the personal interactions pull the group together rather then the old hunker down and hide behind the my-penis-is-bigger-than-your-penis-nuclear-powered-behemoth laptop screens.



    So yes, the iPad is ready for business, if you use it for what it is good at. Nobody ever said it would do everything, so stop tying to compare it to that irrelevant standard.
  • Reply 20 of 23
    tenobelltenobell Posts: 7,014member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by anantksundaram View Post


    I agree. Talk about a stretch. The survey might as well have said '26% of all workers plan to get an iPad.'



    Apple would like those odds.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by maciekskontakt View Post


    Too bad that they will find out it is not capable of replacing notebook functions. Giving presentations, surfing and reading books is not everything. Once it has all functions of productivity suit then maybe iPad will be good replacement.



    The iPad will never fully replace all of the functionality of a notebook and its not intended to. Its intended to be a step more functional than a phone, but less cumbersome and more portable than a notebook.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by pzelf View Post


    The iPad is not fit for work. Its a nice gadget but not something to work on in my oppinion!



    That really depends on what work you require it to do. I work in film/video industry. I would not use the iPad to edit video. But its great for downloading and viewing still pictures and small video files. Writing notes and reports. There are many film related applications for iOS that are very productive on the iPad.



    Before the iPad I had to carry my laptop, a notepad, a ledger, a depth of field chart, gel swatch, sun position calculator, color swatch book. When I took pictures I had to wait until I got home to look at them. Now literally all of this can be done on the iPad.
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