Apple (AAPL +3.24%) is known as the leader in the mobile device enterprise market. The iPhone is the device of choice for large organizations. Among tablets, the iPad dominates. Investors are hoping Apple can continue to succeed in this area. A recent update from Good Technology gives investors a pulse on Apple's current enterprise state.
iPad Air. iPads dominated Good Technology's fourth-quarter tablet activations.
Good Technology, as the leader in secure mobility, is in a unique position for enterprise device insight. Good's insights for enterprise device trends are derived from all the devices activated across its worldwide customer base. Good's global and diverse customer base includes organizations in the Fortune 100.
The takeaways from the report were clear, and they can be summed up in three points.
1. There are two big winners and one big loser. While Good Technology doesn't have access to BlackBerry activations since uts devices use the BlackBerry Enterprise Server for corporate email access, it did notice a trend in overall device migration: "[M]any organizations are migrating away from BlackBerry to meet end user demand and embrace newer platforms like iOS and Android." These "newer platforms" were almost entirely Apple's iOS and Google's (GOOG +0.20%) Android. Combined, these two platforms made up 98% of the activations on the Good Dynamics Secure Mobility Platform.
2. Apple is still the star of enterprise. Not only did iOS smartphones alone make up 54% of device activations in the fourth quarter, but iOS devices also claimed the top 10 spots among the most popular devices. To be fair, Apple benefited during the quarter from the recent launch of the iPhone 5s and the 5c.
But Android's share shouldn't be underplayed. Google is a big player in mobile enterprise, too. Android's share of activations was 26%, a massive lead over Windows Phone activations, which were nearly nil at just 1%. Note that Apple's 54% and Android's 26% are not comparable because the Apple share is citing only smartphones. The Android share is citing both smartphones and tablets.
3. In enterprise tablets, Apple is king. With the help of popular iPad sales among enterprises, iOS accounted for 73% of device activations. That's up from 72% in Q3 and 69% in Q2. Put another way, iOS tablets accounted for 91.4% of total tablet activations. Runner-up Android had just an 8.4% share of tablet activations.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said during the comapany's first-quarter earnings call that it recognizes "the enterprise area has huge potential." A number of accounts, Apple says, boast tens of thousands of iOS devices. With magnitude like this, it's certainly important for Apple to maintain leadership in the enterprise market as the smartphone and tablet market continue their global ascent.
The takeaway for investors? Apple is still the clear leader among enterprise mobile devices.
