Apple's iPhone trumps Android in enterprise adoption, iPad dominates
A new survey of ActiveSync-based smartphones in the enterprise found that Apple's iPhone is the market leader with a 61 percent share and growing, while Google Android owns just 17 percent.
The business user data was released this week by Intermedia, the world's largest Microsoft Exchange hosting provider with 320,000 premium hosted Exchange e-mail accounts. In addition a strong lead for the iPhone, the data also shows market dominance for the iPad, with a 99.8 percent share of ActiveSync-based tablets.
Apple and Google were found to be the leaders in enterprise smartphone operating systems, while the remaining players -- Windows Phone, Nokia Symbian and Palm's webOS -- accounted for the 22 percent of platforms in the "other" category.
Intermedia's numbers also show that Apple's share of the enterprise continues to grow. In April, the iPhone remained the number one device, and even increased its share to 64 percent among new devices. Android's share also climbed to 33 percent for the month, showing that both platforms are making gains at the expense of competitors.
iPad share continued to remain dominant in April as well, with close to 100 percent of new tablet activations being iPads. Intermedia said it typically sees about 300 new iPads activated in its service per month, but that number jumped to over 900 in March and more than 1,200 in April.
"Professionals want to sync and manage their business email, contacts, and calendars across their computers, smartphones, and tablets," said Jonathan McCormick, chief operating officer of Intermedia. "They also want to use the brands of their choice. Supporting these options can strain an IT department accustomed to managing only one type of device -- or an entrepreneur with no IT staff to help with set up. Email services like Intermedia's deliver these productivity capabilities with the click of a mouse and back them up with 24x7 support from certified professionals."
Apple regularly boasts about the success that it has had with the iPhone in enterprise, as well as the quick adoption the iPad has found in the corporate world. In its last quarterly earnings conference call, the company revealed that 88 percent of the Fortune 500 are testing or deploying the iPhone, while 75 percent are utilizing the iPad.
Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook also said that the success of the iPad and iPhone have created a "halo effect" for the Mac. As companies have made iOS-based devices a part of their employees' available tools, they have also begun buying Macs for corporate use.
The business user data was released this week by Intermedia, the world's largest Microsoft Exchange hosting provider with 320,000 premium hosted Exchange e-mail accounts. In addition a strong lead for the iPhone, the data also shows market dominance for the iPad, with a 99.8 percent share of ActiveSync-based tablets.
Apple and Google were found to be the leaders in enterprise smartphone operating systems, while the remaining players -- Windows Phone, Nokia Symbian and Palm's webOS -- accounted for the 22 percent of platforms in the "other" category.
Intermedia's numbers also show that Apple's share of the enterprise continues to grow. In April, the iPhone remained the number one device, and even increased its share to 64 percent among new devices. Android's share also climbed to 33 percent for the month, showing that both platforms are making gains at the expense of competitors.
iPad share continued to remain dominant in April as well, with close to 100 percent of new tablet activations being iPads. Intermedia said it typically sees about 300 new iPads activated in its service per month, but that number jumped to over 900 in March and more than 1,200 in April.
"Professionals want to sync and manage their business email, contacts, and calendars across their computers, smartphones, and tablets," said Jonathan McCormick, chief operating officer of Intermedia. "They also want to use the brands of their choice. Supporting these options can strain an IT department accustomed to managing only one type of device -- or an entrepreneur with no IT staff to help with set up. Email services like Intermedia's deliver these productivity capabilities with the click of a mouse and back them up with 24x7 support from certified professionals."
Apple regularly boasts about the success that it has had with the iPhone in enterprise, as well as the quick adoption the iPad has found in the corporate world. In its last quarterly earnings conference call, the company revealed that 88 percent of the Fortune 500 are testing or deploying the iPhone, while 75 percent are utilizing the iPad.
Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook also said that the success of the iPad and iPhone have created a "halo effect" for the Mac. As companies have made iOS-based devices a part of their employees' available tools, they have also begun buying Macs for corporate use.
Comments
Google "products" in general are not very appealing for corporate users. I doubt Android will ever be any more popular with corporate clients than gmail or google docs. The main reasons are (1) data security, (2) support, and (3) feature sets.
In short, 'fragmentation'.
Also, good quotes on "products".
Google's 'product' is you.
This is somewhat surprising given that enterprise traditionally favors PCs over Macs (and still do). Yet you'd think they would be all over the Mac for its ease-of-use and high level of integration. It took adoption of iOS devices to get them to notice the Mac?
People forget (or perhaps never knew, depending on age) just how bad things got for the Mac in the late 1990s. Not only were things bad for Apple from a business perspective, but there were a good 5 years (at least) where the Mac was technologically a mess. The Copland shipwreck left Apple with an ancient OS that had been poorly maintained and the PPC shipwreck left Apple with chips that were way slower than the Intel/AMD competition. When Jobs returned, he did as much as he could as fast as he could, but there was a lot to do and it took time. Apple managed to get the classic Mac OS back in usable shape by the time version 8 rolled around, but it was still creaking along on an ancient foundation. And the PPC G4 was a joke compared to the AMD Athlon.
It really wasn't until Tiger + Core2Duo that Apple had a product that could possibly compete for business users attention. Leopard and Snow Leopard, plus Office 2011, plus VMWare, have moved things further still. I actually think it's remarkable just how well Apple has been able to do with Macs in business given the long memories of corporate IT. It just goes to show how truly awesome Macs are today that Apple is able to overcome those well-earned prejudices.
Where is the data for Blackberry does it not use ActiveSync?
According to Blackberry Forums it does not. Uses the Blackberry Desktop Manager instead.
http://supportforums.blackberry.com/...ync/m-p/164624
In fact I think it was the middle of last year before Android even supported Microsoft's ActiveSync, which might explain part of the low figures for enterprise adoption of Android.
But with a single line of smartphones to deal with I would definitely expect the iPhone to be an easier solution than working with different Android-based ones. Have no idea if it really is easier tho.
In short, 'fragmentation'.
Also, good quotes on "products".
Google's 'product' is you.
Totally agree with you that Google's product is us.
Slight nitpick, though -- my point really wasn't about fragmentation (although that's also a good point). My point is that Google's products are all freeware, and are worth the price. For example, I use gmail for personal e-mail but I would never use it for work for exactly the three reasons I listed. And I would never pay for it. Also, I don't use it through a web browser -- I use the IMAP features. Which means that I never see any ads from Google. I figure if they're dumb enough to let me use this thing for free, I will (if they were to make gmail browser-only, I'd drop it like a bad habit). But only for stuff that isn't critical to my livelihood.
This is somewhat surprising given that enterprise traditionally favors PCs over Macs (and still do). Yet you'd think they would be all over the Mac for its ease-of-use and high level of integration. It took adoption of iOS devices to get them to notice the Mac?
The reason they prefer PCs, is because all the PC makers provided great support. And MSFT is extremely corporate friendly.
I mean, HP, Dell, etc., basically sign large contracts, and provide great service, and replacements etc.
The Android guys include Google, which is pretty poor at corporate support, and HTC, Motorola, Samsung, who have no idea what that even means. The only phone company with good support is RIM.
Apple is catching up, but they are WAY behind RIM.
This is somewhat surprising given that enterprise traditionally favors PCs over Macs (and still do). Yet you'd think they would be all over the Mac for its ease-of-use and high level of integration. It took adoption of iOS devices to get them to notice the Mac?
Apple is way behind the curve in the enterprise desktop. Most big companies are moving to Citrix terminals, with the local machine a very lightweight machine and the desktop pulled over from a huge virtualized server. They're starting to offer reasonable enterprise integration on the client just as the enterprise is starting to not care about the client computer anymore.
According to Blackberry Forums it does not. Uses the Blackberry Desktop Manager instead.
http://supportforums.blackberry.com/...ync/m-p/164624
RIM has its own proprietary network for handling email, so it would not appear here. This network is in fact RIMs greatest asset.
I would hesitate to read too much into these numbers as it only represents this companies own customers.
RIM has its own proprietary network for handling email, so it would not appear here. This network is in fact RIMs greatest asset.
I would hesitate to read too much into these numbers as it only represents this companies own customers.
I agree RIM's secure email is their greatest asset. Their enterprise solution now supports both ios and android. I imagine that corp IT will probably stay away from android though.
Too bad we cant do that with the consumer iOS.
This is due to Apple great entreprise program that allows IT to break free of the close down iOS. IT can run there own private app store for vertical applications. iOS for entreprise is pretty much a legal jailbreak.
Too bad we cant do that with the consumer iOS.
Not really a jailbreak. You can install your own custom app but not anyone else's. Jailbreak allows you to install any app you want. Big difference.
Google has over 3 million businesses registered for Gapps, both large and small.
Even with those factors, iOS most likely has a higher adoption rate than android overall, but whatever this report gives, it's not an accurate representation.
Apple is way behind the curve in the enterprise desktop. Most big companies are moving to Citrix terminals, with the local machine a very lightweight machine and the desktop pulled over from a huge virtualized server. They're starting to offer reasonable enterprise integration on the client just as the enterprise is starting to not care about the client computer anymore.
Good points... although given Apple's tiny share of the corporate market, there is still room for Apple to gain a lot of sales here even with the issues you mention. Not everybody is or will go to the huge virtualized server approach -- some users are still going to need powerful clients. Also, it's easy to imagine that Apple might one day sell an iOS based thin client that could serve as a hub for other iDevices and then also act as a terminal to the huge virtualized server.
Really, Jobs whole truck vs car analogy is where the industry is heading and apple is well positioned for it. Microsoft is stuck in the 1990s and Google is just an ad company.
Good points... although given Apple's tiny share of the corporate market, there is still room for Apple to gain a lot of sales here even with the issues you mention. Not everybody is or will go to the huge virtualized server approach -- some users are still going to need powerful clients. Also, it's easy to imagine that Apple might one day sell an iOS based thin client that could serve as a hub for other iDevices and then also act as a terminal to the huge virtualized server.
Really, Jobs whole truck vs car analogy is where the industry is heading and apple is well positioned for it. Microsoft is stuck in the 1990s and Google is just an ad company.
Since I switched to a Mac at work, with Parallels and Windows 7 for "emergencies", I've been amazed by how little I've needed to fire up Windows. It's probably less than once per week.
The Mac has proven tremendous in the enterprise for me.
The reason they prefer PCs, is because all the PC makers provided great support. And MSFT is extremely corporate friendly.
I mean, HP, Dell, etc., basically sign large contracts, and provide great service, and replacements etc.
There, I fixed it for you.