Menu
Corporate-owned smartphones back in vogue in Q3

Corporate-owned smartphones back in vogue in Q3

A larger share of smartphones used for business purposes were corporate-owned

A steady increase in corporate purchasing through the first three quarters of the year hints that enterprises are already rethinking how far BYOD (bring-your-own-device) programs will be allowed to expand, according to Strategy Analytics.

Seventy-three million smartphones were purchased in the third quarter by business users directly, or by companies for their business users, representing a 34 percent increase over total business smartphone volumes a year ago, Strategy Analytics said.

That means more than 35 percent of smartphones used for business purposes were corporate-owned, compared to 32 percent in the same quarter a year ago, and 31 percent in the first quarter.

BYOD may very well be an unstoppable trend in many regions in the world, but it's not too surprising that some momentum would swing back to corporate-owned devices, according to Kevin Burden, director of mobility at Strategy Analytics. Companies are still devising usage policies, discovering its management challenges and experiencing its impact first-hand, he said.

For now it's not clear if the corporate-owned smartphone surge is the start of a growing trend or just a correction after more than a year of lopsided adoption, but what is clear is that enterprises still want full control over mobile phones and apps, according to Strategy Analytics.

Leif-Olof Wallin, research vice president at Gartner, agreed: "There is still a gap between CIOs and employees," he said.

Drawing any conclusions based on sales during the third quarter is also tricky because they were affected by what Wallin calls "the BlackBerry effect." Questions around the struggling company's future resulted in pent-up demand that Apple and the Android camp were able to take advantage of during the third quarter, according to Wallin.

The BYOD market has also started to mature.

"More and more CIOs are starting to realize that BYOD projects aren't cheaper than corporate-owned devices. They are more likely 5 percent to 10 percent more expensive," Wallin said.

Send news tips and comments to mikael_ricknas@idg.com

Join the CIO Australia group on LinkedIn. The group is open to CIOs, IT Directors, COOs, CTOs and senior IT managers.

Join the newsletter!

Or

Sign up to gain exclusive access to email subscriptions, event invitations, competitions, giveaways, and much more.

Membership is free, and your security and privacy remain protected. View our privacy policy before signing up.

Error: Please check your email address.

Tags mobilesmartphonesGartnerconsumer electronicsMobile OSesStrategy Analytics

More about AppleBlackBerryGartner

Show Comments
[]