Smartphone Purchase for Corporate Use Rising

Through the first three quarters of 2013, there was a steady rise in the corporate purchasing of smartphones, according to Strategy Analytics. This may suggest that enterprises are rethinking the extent by which their BYOD programs are allowed to grow.

In the third quarter of 2013, 73 million smartphone units were bought directly by business users or by companies for their business users. This represents an increase of 34 percent in excess of the total sales volume of business smartphones a year ago.

According to Strategy Analytics, over 35 percent of smartphones used for business purposes were corporate-owned, compared to 31 percent in the first quarter of 2013 and 32 percent from a year-ago quarter.

Kevin Burden, director of mobility at Strategy Analytics, said that in many regions in the world, BYOD may very well be an inescapable trend. However, it is not very surprising to discover that the BYOD trend is driving back the use of corporate-owned devices. Burden explained that companies are still developing their usage policies, learning management challenges, and going through the impact first-hand.

Strategy Analytics argues that it is not yet clear at this point whether the buying surge in corporate-owned smartphones points to a burgeoning trend or it is simply a correction occurring after more than one year of uneven adoption. However, it is obvious that enterprises still want to maintain complete control over mobile apps and phones.

"There is still a gap between CIOs and employees," said Leif-Olof Wallin, research vice president at Gartner. To draw any conclusions based on third-quarter sales alone was also tricky because those sales results were impacted by what Wallin labeled as "the BlackBerry effect." The inquiry centering on the struggling smartphone manufacturer's uncertain future led to a pent-up demand that both Apple and Android makers were able to leverage during the third quarter of 2013.

Meanwhile, the BYOD market has 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. (KOM) Link.