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Topic: Tech Industry

Android, Apple iOS flip consumer, corporate market share

Summary: Android dominates the global mobile platform in the consumer market. In the enterprise, Apple's iOS gets an iPad boost and leads. Why?

Larry Dignan

By for Between the Lines |

Android dominates the consumer global platform race with nearly 70 percent market share, but in the enterprise Apple's iOS platform dominates. It's a bit of a conundrum for Android, which apparently scares tech executives worried about multiple flavors of the OS and security.

Let's roll the market share stats:

According to Gartner, Android's global share is nearing 70 percent.

gartmobile021313b

 

In the U.S., ComScore puts Android share at 53.4 percent with Apple iOS at 36.3 percent.

scor021313

 

So far so good right? Not for corporations. In the enterprise, using Citrix Zenprise data as a proxy, Android is far from dominant. Apple, which allegedly doesn't give a hoot about the enterprise, dominates.

Here's a look at the Android vs. iOS race in the corporate world based on third quarter Zenprise data. Zenprise is a top 5 mobile device management vendor recently acquired by Citrix.

zenprise021313a

 

A few things to note about those standings:

  1. Android share is trending up and the Asia stats were skewed by a few large iOS deployments.
  2. iOS market share in the corporate world is fueled by the iPad, which accounted for 57 percent of iOS devices.
  3. Android is dominant in transportation, health care and communications verticals. iOS leads in education, energy, legal, real estate and insurance.

What's the hangup with Android in the enterprise? A few thoughts:

  • CIOs are wary of the different flavors of Android and iOS is easier to secure.
  • Apple leads the tablet race so that reality boosts iOS a lot in the corporate market.
  • Windows and BlackBerry are likely to retain some market share in corporations and that's going to prevent the Android-iOS duopoly situation seen in the consumer market.
  • Security is a concern for Android applications. Blue Coat Systems highlighted the Android risks recently.

Topics: Tech Industry, Android, Apple, CXO, iOS, Mobility, Samsung, Security

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78 comments
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  • iPads in Education

    I can guarantee you the #1 reason for the large number of iPads being deployed is not due to private industry but due to public schools (plus some other government institutions/departments) who could care less whether they are wasting taxpayer dollars. They don't bother doing comparative analyses, needs assessment, or other due diligence. It's just a "buy first, ask questions later" mentality.

    My online video, "Just Say NO to iPad for Education: Apple Products Break Budgets" shows how schools who purchase them (versus going with an alternative like Android or maybe Chromebooks) could waste up to $6 BILLION ANNUALLY -- that's enough to hire over 140,000 teachers.

    Doesn't make a lot of sense when we see people talk about deficits and budgets in the government and public sectors.
    MatthewGudenius
    Reply 4 Votes

    • Well...if you "guarantee" it and you have an online video too...

      Well...Apple and MS should just pack up now and go home and leave the market to Google products.

      Or...perhaps...the people purchasing these devices have more than just the purchase price in mind and actually consider utility, security, and total cost of ownership...you know...the difference between "price" and "value" But...you have an online video...so I must be wrong
      UGottaBKidding
      Reply 4 Votes

      • Watch my Video...

        Seriously. I talk about TCO in it. The "Total Cost of Ownership" is a line of bull.
        Consumer Reports survey of thousands of people found NO MEANINGFUL DIFFERENCE in Brand Reliability between Apple, Lenovo, Samsung, Acer, Asus, HP, Sony
        MatthewGudenius
        Reply 1 Vote

        • Ahhhhhh, TCO is a 'line of bull'?

          Not to us who have to actually acquire stuff for our companies. That's also true of schools where budgets are squeaky tight and TCO (as well as other factors) enter ito the acquisition - plus, do we really know how much Apple is selling product for into education? Separating politics and business is a good thing - business people (including school boards and trustees) have enough on their plate - and the taxpayetr foots the bill at the local level with budget votes and elections to the school boards. Generalizing 'costs to the taxpayer' over the whole of the country is meaningless, given the local orientation of schools, school boards, and taxpayers.
          earljgray
          Reply 1 Vote

        • Really

          "Consumer Reports survey of thousands of people found NO MEANINGFUL DIFFERENCE in Brand Reliability between Apple, Lenovo, Samsung, ACER, Asus, HP, Sony"

          No difference between upper tier and Acer "bottom of the barrel"

          Well, you just sabotaged your argument and with a garbage consumer reports quote.
          Non-Euclidean
          Reply 1 Vote

          • TCO Verses Consumer Reports???

            Most TCO studies are not accurate or rigorous. You get whatever answer you paid to get.

            Consumer Reports on the other hand does not accept money from any outside source. They simply survey people who own a product and ask if it does what it claims to do, and if it broke.

            That means that as a tablet, YES Acer and Asus are as good as iPad. It does not mean that the lower resolution Asus unit is as high resolution as the iPad or the Samsung, but, as a tablet it still works just as good.

            Get off the fanboy wagon and accept the data.
            YetAnotherBob
            Reply Vote

      • +1

        I certainly won't be watching the video :-)
        Restricted_access
        Reply Vote

      • I wonder about TCO

        I understand why corporations may want to manage their personnel and consider the TCO. Of course, I cannot fully understand why all corporations do so - the idea to filter out the dumb, inert, and incurious by just not managing their computers must attract at least somebody. Maybe BYOD is in line with that.

        I totally cannot understand how TCO is applicable to a school. Teachers have to figure out how to use a device all by themselves in order to pass that skill to children. Children must know more than just how to use a device for "common user" activities or they will graduate uneducated. Teaching them computers is not an extra effort, it is a prime task.

        Since it is evident that Android and iOS will coexist for a long time, I think it does not matter at all which is used. It is OK to use iOS if you like it, but it is impossible to hide that liking beneath the TCO.

        P.S. Since development for iEverything requires a Mac while development for Android can be done on Android with, say, AIDE, shouldn't the cost of a MAC be considered as an addition to TCO?
        gak@...
        Reply 2 Votes

        • In Schools

          First, schools do not generally write their applications. They buy them, usually from whoever makes the slickest sales pitch. That's why there is so much useless, unused software in school districts.

          Second, by fifth grade, the teachers know less than the students do about use of technology. Teachers commonly ask students how to use the equipment.

          Third, for tablets, the students often bring their own. Theft is a problem in upper grade school and in middle schools.

          Fourth, there is only just now starting to be serious applications and book resources for schools in the tablet space.

          Finally, yes, educators are discovering both the benefits and the limitations of tablet based education. What we will see is that the systems will run either Android or iOS. Probably there will wind up being a Java or JavaScript solution that will dominate in the future.

          Oh, and don't count out the OLPC tablet yet either. It's quite inexpensive in volume purchases for school districts worldwide.
          YetAnotherBob
          Reply Vote

    • Android???

      Android is a balkanized FUBAR when it comes to security and consistency of deployment.
      Brich
      Reply 4 Votes

      • No More So Than

        No more so than iOS devices, or for that matter the Windows world. Less so for Windows. It's too soon to tell if Windows 8 has the vulnerabilities of past versions of Windows, however.

        The 'virus' thing is wildly overblown. I don't personally know of anyone who has been hit. The worldwide numbers I have seen are very roughly the same for iOS and Android.

        Most of the hype boils down to the Google model of allow for applications to be 'free' if you chose to allow advertising on the application. That's in the permissions when you install the application.

        As for the 'Fractured' myth, I run Android 2.3. It's true that some applications use calls to features that my phone doesn't have, though the same problem exists in every operating system, including iOS and Windows all the way back to DOS 1.0. I have found a couple of applications that don't run on my phone, but those are very rare, and their lack doesn't inconvenience me.
        YetAnotherBob
        Reply Vote

    • iPads in Education

      This is sooooooooo true! I have a brother currently in high school/LAUSD and he mention the school he is attending is thinking of buying Apple products. That is just wrong because the schools in LAUSD are not in a place to be buying Apple products that sh*t is just a waste of money. One good thing about this is that my brother is involved in the school newspaper so I'm going to have him write a article on comparing number$$$ between a PC & MAC. Dollar per dollar you get more out of a PC and Windows are in MOST office environments, so using a MAC that is only 7-10% of the market is just a useless skill.
      lares3k
      Reply 3 Votes

      • You are ignoring one of the most important things,

        namely security. Android is more “open” than IOS, so it is therefore more vulnerable to malware and hacks. This has been true to a lesser degree in the Mac versus Windows malware contest. Just Google for “android malware” and “IOS malware" to get an idea of what I mean here. The author of this post recently made a report right here on ZDNet. It can be found here:

        http://www.zdnet.com/android-becoming-mobile-malware-magnet-says-report-7000011197/

        So far, the only malware that has ever gotten onto an iPhone in the 5+ years of its existence, is on phones that have been deliberately jail broken by their owner. I am quite certain that for schools contemplating to give a bunch of enterprising and explorative kids any device, security is a major consideration. The cost of ownership can skyrocket if a number of devices on the school network get infected.
        arminw
        Reply Vote

    • You are ignoring one thing

      Applications, security (clearly a issue with Android), ease of installations. Those alone are TCO items that schools pay attention to. My son's school has iPads with every new student. The grade school is doing the same thing. Right now the TCO is not much worse than Android and you get the whole iOS eco-system. Sorry Google and Android are not a good fit right now.
      ScanBack
      Reply Vote

      • Kids

        I have a nexus 7 with android with 4.22. I only download applications from Google store. Android gives you choices but it is up to you to protect yourself. For school iPad might be more suitable since Apple consider you are all kids. This said, I believe that schools must look at Chromebooks which are more secure and can be controlled and administrated centrally.
        oldman60
        Reply Vote

        • iPads are controled locally at the school and locked down

          They only get to what they are supposed to plus they have all the apps they need. Chromebooks based on what we have here are limited and Google Docs are not there yet. I can hear all the moaning, but I have two students one in private HS and one at University and both have had project that Google docs would not have been able to do. Sorry, that's the fact. Plus other application integration and the education tools that they use daily. That's their problem the tools you have are 2nd and 3rd rate compared to what is available. Maybe eventually, but right now not yet. Naive people forget schools have to integrate and use tools that are out there for them now- like the enterprise. It's naive and foolish to think Chromebooks provide all of this - they don't - same reason the failed here. Surf the web and type a simple paper - you have a argument - deviate from that in the slightest - it fails miserably.
          ScanBack
          Reply Vote

  • Watch my Video, seriously

    I talk about TCO in it. The "Total Cost of Ownership" is a line of bull.
    Consumer Reports survey of thousands of people found NO MEANINGFUL DIFFERENCE in Brand Reliability between Apple, Lenovo, Samsung, Acer, Asus, HP, Sony -- so where does the cost of ownership go up if they are equally reliable devices?

    If you are concerned about Flash security (I've never had a problem with it in the 15 years I've been using it), don't install Flash.

    If you are concerned about malware (which you should be, on any device), take appropriate measures to prevent it. I haven't had a single instance of malware on Windows in the past 7 years or so since I have been using Spyware Doctor.

    A lot of people like to use those things as arguments for "total cost of ownership"... so let's see:
    * My computer (a PC built-to-spec to EXACTLY MATCH the same hardware components -- same brand and model -- inside a Mac Pro) = $1000 + $30/year for Spyware Doctor
    * Mac Pro = $2800

    Tell me, what exactly will make the Mac version -- with the exact same specs as my PC version -- have a lower TCO when it costs nearly 3x as much??

    Likewise with tablets. You can argue "but this way we only have to support one type" but that is ignorant. Here's a thought: hire a competent support person who actually knows anything about technology, and they will be able to handle multiple devices. (not to mention the fact that iPads and iPhone are notoriously awful for enterprise purposes like ghosting/imaging, mass deployment, and tracking/managing)
    MatthewGudenius
    Reply 3 Votes

    • When you go to sell your home built PC as used you'll get nothing

      Look at any used Mac site and you'll see they still retain quite a bit of their value as used equipment.

      "but this way we only have to support one type" used by Windows fanbois for years!
      GoPower
      Reply 2 Votes

    • Something smells here!

      Why would you be recommending a Mac Pro for a school environment when an iMac is a far better fit and far less costly (iMac $1300 w/ 22" screen and well equipped). Sounds like you are cherry picking facts to support your position.
      KBabcock75
      Reply 1 Vote

      • $1,300 computer for a student?

        $1,300 computer outside school does a lot but $1,300 for the majority of the students who will be using it for research and typing up their essay is way too much. Students do not require a quad processor to do these things.

        All they need is a duel core processor (single cores will be usefull but a waste of money in the long run) and a Operating System that is widely used so that would be Windows OS. A computer like this would be under $300-500.
        lares3k
        Reply 1 Vote
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