Samsung tops in Android enterprise usage

More than half of Android devices being used in the enterprise are made by Samsung, according to a report from mobile device management company Fiberlink that surveyed more than 250,000 devices worldwide.

Fiberlink, which is owned by IBM, pulled device information from users of its MDM products around the world to determine which Android gadgets were popular among enterprise users. Samsung took first place by a comfortable margin, with 56% of the market, followed by Motorola at 22%, HTC at 8% and a host of other companies with 2% or less.

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The company also identified the most popular smartphone and tablet for each of the major Android OEMs Samsung's Galaxy S III was its most-used enterprise phone, and Motorola's was the DROID RAZR M. HTC's Droid Incredible 2 was its top handset, and LG's Nexus 4 took the prize.

Fiberlink spokesperson Jonathan Dale said in a statement that Samsung's emphasis on security features had helped push the company's products to the top along with their more general popularity among consumers.

"Samsung has invested heavily in enterprise security features that make IT professionals more comfortable having their devices in the workplace," he said. "We've also been hearing from businesses that Samsung is making devices that have more curb appeal and generally rank high on the cool factor."

This week's launch of the Samsung Galaxy S 5 did, indeed, focus in part on enterprise security features, as the company pushed its Knox security suite to the foreground at the release event. Knox 2.0, Samsung said, offers advanced new features like two-factor authentication provided via a fingerprint scanner/password combination and real-time code monitoring.

Android gear is still small potatoes next to Apple products in the enterprise, however another recent report, this one from Good Technology, found that nearly three-quarters of all new business smartphones and tablets activated in the fourth quarter of 2013 ran iOS, not Android.

Email Jon Gold at jgold@nww.com and follow him on Twitter at @NWWJonGold.

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