The iPad is on a tear in the enterprise, and is now being activated more often than Android smartphones, according to the latest data from Good Technology. The enterprise software maker said the iPad accounted for 27.2 percent of all activations of its software in the second quarter ahead of Android phones at 24.4, the first time Apple’s tablet has pushed past Android phones.
The iPad and the iPad 2 now account for 97 percent of all tablet activations. And iPad figures have helped boost Apple’s overall share of activations to just under 80 percent, compared to just under 70 percent in the first quarter. IPhone activations are up to 66 percent, compared to 62 percent in the previous quarter. Good said iPad adoption was driven by the financial services sectors, which accounted for 46 percent of all adoption, more than triple that of any other industry.
It’s a pretty impressive showing for the iPad, which has been out for a little over a year. And the fact that it’s pushed past Android phones, which are the leading smartphone on the market, underscores how big the opportunity can be for tablets in corporations.
Good Technology, which provides management and security tools that allow companies to deploy smartphones and tablets, doesn’t account for Research in Motion devices, which connect through a BlackBerry Enterprise Server. So it’s unclear how the Playbook or BlackBerry phones figure into the mix. RIM recently said it shipped 500,000 Playbook tablets. Good is in the process of supporting of Windows Phone 7 later this year but until then, doesn’t have data for that platform either. But the results show how iOS and Android, two platforms not designed specifically for enterprise, are faring in corporate adoption. Good Technology is used by 40 of the Fortune 100.
The latest Good figures falls in line with Apple’s own data on enterprise use of iOS devices. Apple said Tuesday during its quarterly earnings call that 91 percent of the Fortune 500 have deployed or are testing the iPhone up from 88 percent last quarter. And 86 percent of the Fortune 500 are deploying or are testing the iPad, up from 75 percent in the previous quarter.
Android tablets are still just getting going with Honeycomb devices hitting the market, led by the Motorola Xoom, the most popular Android tablet in the Good survey. Android tablets account for 3.1 percent of all tablet applications, down slightly from the previous quarter.
The figures show that Apple continues to gain traction in the enterprise and has a bright future ahead, especially if it can get companies to develop corporate apps for iOS. And the one-two punch of having a smartphone and tablet also seems to be paying off for Apple. It raises questions about tablets challengers and how well they’ll perform in the enterprise. Rivals need to have a credible answer for both smartphones and tablets and having a stable of corporate apps that can run on both may help decide who wins in this space.
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