When it comes to business mobile usage, Apple reigns. That's according to Good Technology, an MDM (mobile device management) vendor that tracks the activation of new devices managed by its customers. It's no surprise that in the fourth quarter of 2011, Apple iPhone 4S activations were huge at 31 percent of all new devices activated and 40 percent of all new smartphones, as that highly anticipated smartphone was released in October.
But Apple products, not just the iPhone 4S, took all five top spots in Good's list of most activated devices: the iPhone 4S at 31 percent, the iPhone 4 at 18 percent, the iPad 2 at 14 percent, the original iPad at 4 percent, and the iPhone 3G S at 3 percent. The rest of the top 10 were Android smartphones: the Samsung Galaxy S II, Motorola Droid Bionic, Motorola Droid 3, HTC Evo 4G, and Motorola Droid X2 -- each at 2 percent or less.
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Overall, Apple's devices accounted for 71 percent of new device activations (up from 68 percent in the previous quarter), with the three iPhone models (4S, 4, and 3G S) totaling 53 percent of new smartphones and the two iPad models (the Pad 2 and the original iPad) totaling 94.7 percent of new tablets. By comparison, Android devices accounted for 29 percent of new device activations (down from 32 percent), with Android devices accounting for 39 percent of new smartphones and Android devices for 5.2 percent of new tablets.
Good notes that enterprise users' preference for Apple devices contrasts with that of overall consumer preferences, where Android smartphones account for 52 percent of global smartphone sales in the fourth quarter versus the iPhone's No. 2 showing of 15 percent. In the United States, Nielsen Research shows Android smartphone sales of 51.7 percent versus 37 percent for the various iPhones. Data on tablet sales is unavailable, although most analyst firms predicted that about 75 percent of tablets sold would be iPads.
Good's data comes mainly from financial services and professional services firms, but its clients cover a range of global industries that also include health care, high tech, government, and retail. Good's data covers iOS, Android, Windows Mobile, and Symbian devices, although the latter two have almost no new activations by Good's customers. Good's data does not cover BlackBerry or Windows Phone devices, which Gartner's surveys say have about 11 percent and 1.5 percent global market share, respectively. Corporate market share data is not available for either platform.
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