Mobile Workforce Report Q4 2010: Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4 | Page 5 | Page 6 | Page 7
Section 1: Smartphone Preferences
A major focus of this quarter’s report was on smartphone preferences and adoption. Although much has been written about Android operating system (OS) smartphones surpassing iPhone adoption and becoming the number-two platform worldwide behind Symbian1; among the mobile workforce it is a different story.
We found that by 2012, the top two smartphone OSs among the mobile workforce will likely be Apple’s iOS4 followed by the Android. This growth will come at the expense of the BlackBerry, today’s dominant enterprise smartphone and OS, which could witness a sharp decline as both the iPhone and Android-based smartphones become more enterprise-ready.
Smartphone Adoption by Age Group
In the iPass survey sample, 84.6 percent of all mobile workers had a smartphone. Younger mobile workers were more likely to have a smartphone than older workers – 90.6 percent of those aged 22 to 34 had a smartphone, 90.0 percent of those aged 35 to 44, 85.0 percent of those between 45 to 54, and 76.0 percent of those aged 55 to 64.
Figure 3: Smartphone adoption by age group.
However, only 58.5 percent of those under age 34 used their smartphones for work, while more than 70 percent of those between the ages of 35 and 54 did. Overall smartphone penetration for work among the mobile workforce was 69.0 percent.
Figure 4: Smartphone adoption and use by age group.
Current Smartphone Adoption
Android adoption has escalated from just three percent of mobile workers in the first quarter of 2010, to 13.4 percent of mobile workers today. The iPhone has now closed the gap on BlackBerry to less than six percentage points. Still, BlackBerry remains the most popular smartphone (40.8 percent) in today’s mobile workers’ hands.
Figure 5: Do you currently use a smartphone for business and/or personal reasons? If so, which one? (Note: multiple answers were allowed.)
And while more mobile workers in general used a BlackBerry, those aged 34 and under preferred the iPhone. The top smartphone for the over 45 market was the BlackBerry.
Figure 6: Do you currently use a smartphone for business and/or personal reasons? If so, which one? (By age range.)
When we looked at the results across geographies, we found that the BlackBerry remained the dominant smartphone OS, except in Asia Pacific where it has been overtaken by the iPhone. Symbian was the third most popular OS in both Europe and Asia Pacific.
Figure 7: Do you currently use a smartphone for business and/or personal reasons, if so which one? (By geography)
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Recommendations for IT: In planning a mobility strategy, enterprises should look beyond the laptop. Increasingly employees are relying more on smartphones and tablets, to stay connected outside of the office. These devices help employees to be more productive, and an inclusive strategy will benefit most enterprises. |
Future Smartphone Adoption
iPass Survey data suggests a loss of market share for BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, and Nokia Symbian devices going forward. Once their current smartphone contracts expire, nearly half of all mobile employees planned to get an iPhone (42.4 percent), an Android (23.8 percent), and only 19.0 percent wanted a BlackBerry.
Figure 8: When the contract ends for your current smartphone, which smartphone would you like to use?
While younger workers appeared to lean towards the Android as their next smartphone, older mobile workers wanted to stick with their BlackBerrys. While the BlackBerry appears less slick and sexy than Android-based smartphones – the BlackBerry is familiar to older workers with its physical buttons. iPhone remains the most popular smartphone across all age groups.
Figure 9: When the contract ends for your current smartphone, which smartphone would you like to use? (By age range).
When looking at future smartphone ownership by geography, we found a similar trend. Across regions, there was broad interest in the iPhone, followed by the Android.
Figure 10: When the contract ends for your current smartphone, which smartphone would you like to use? (By geography).
Smartphone Purchasing Criteria
When selecting a smartphone, mobile employees indicated the following top five buying criteria:
We saw a slight difference in smartphone buying criteria across age groups. The number two criteria in phone selection for users over age 55 was the size and clarity of the screen (67.0 percent), compared to those 54 and under who chose battery life. For users over age 44, the number and variety of supported applications was their number five criteria. For users 34 and under, cellular network of choice (36.2 percent) did not even make the top five.
Across the board we are finding that carriers had less influence on smartphone selection, as mobile workers gravitated to the smartphones with the most features and functionality.
Mobile Workforce Report Q4 2010: Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4 | Page 5 | Page 6 | Page 7
