Apple’s iPhone and iPad do very well in the consumer sector. Now, a new report indicates that Apple’s popular devices are poised to challenge Microsoft in the enterprise too.
Forrester’s 2013 Mobile Workforce Adoption Trends looked at work habits and desired technologies among 9,766 global information workers. Forrester says “anytime, anywhere information workers” that use three or more devices now constitute 29 percent of the global workforce, up from 23 percent in 2011.
Forrester found that 21% of workers responding to the survey were using a tablet at least weekly for work. Also, 48% were using a smartphone for work at least weekly.
Among the participants who were using tablets for work, 58% relied on an iPad, more than twice as many as were using Android tablets and more than five times the count for users of Windows tablets.
iOS was in a dead heat with Android amongst workers who said smartphones were their primary work devices, Android had 37%, and iOS had 34%. The once dominant BlackBerry platform held a 15% share of respondents.
33% of respondents said they wanted an iPhone to be their next work smartphone, that’s as big a segment as Android and Windows Phone combined.
Tablets also look like a growth area in the enterprise for Apple, as 26% of respondents say they want an iPad as their next tablet, over twice as many as said they want an Android tablet. However, the enterprise tablet sector does hold promise for Microsoft Windows, s 32% of those surveyed said they would prefer a Windows tablet for their next device.
