Good Technology, a provider of enterprise mobility management solutions, today released its latest device activations report for Q4 2011. With the company’s device management platform deployed in more than half of the Fortune 100, the report provides interesting insights into mobile device trends in the enterprise.
The report details smartphone and tablet devices activated amongst its enterprise customers, but it’s important to note that it does not include data from Blackberry or Windows Phone 7 devices. Consider it an iOS vs. Android in the enterprise report.
Tablets were the hot topic for much of 2011, Good says, but the mid-October launch of the iPhone 4S sparked smartphone activations across Good’s customer base to spike.
For the top 10 enterprise activations, the iPhone 4S took the top spot in Q4, followed by the iPhone 4, and the iPad 2 third. Android grew steadily, the report shows, and accounted for 35 percent of overall smartphone activations, but a mere 6 percent of tablet activations.
The company attributes the relative increase in iOS device activations to two primary factors: The “BYOD” trend, and Apple’s domination of the tablet market. While tablets like the Samsung Galaxy are driving some activations, Good says that Android tablets are not yet gaining traction with its customers.
Additional findings from Good Technology’s Q4 2011 Data Report include:
• Good’s enterprise end users seem to have a taste for Apple products, especially in the tablet category where the iPad and iPad 2 accounted for 94 percent of total tablet activations.
• iOS devices (iPhones and iPads) accounted for over 70 percent of all activations in Q4 2011.
• Among the top 10 industry verticals, financial services continued to see the highest level of iPad activations, accounting for 42 percent for the quarter – about 4 times the amount of mobile devices as any other industry.
• There is no clear device leader in the Android smartphone market, though 4G models such as the Samsung Galaxy S ll, Motorola Droid Bionic, Motorola Droid 3, Sprint EVo 4G (Q3’s most popular Android device) and Motorola Droid X2 made this quarter’s Top 10 list.
“Android continues to be driven by smartphone activations and we expect to see continued Android growth in 2012 as Good’s customers continue to ramp up their BYOD programs.” said John Herrema, Good Technology’s SVP Corporate Strategy.
What does the trend look like moving forward? With speculation of an iPad 3 launching in March, Good Technology expects to see a dip in iPad and iPad 2 activations, followed by a jump when the iPad 3 is released.
If history repeats itself, Good expects Android smartphone activations to increase on a relative basis in Q1 and Q2 as the impact of the iPhone 4S fades, and as BYOD programs increasingly become the norm among Good’s customer base.
In terms of mobile device policy, Good reported in November that over 70 percent of its largest customers already support “BYOD” and that 19 percent said they were considering or had plans to support the employee-owned device trend within the next 6-12 months.
