Enterprises buying iPhones In Droves, Blackberry Surpassed

Market research firm IDC predicts that Blackberry will lose its leadership position as a supplier of smartphones to businesses in 2012.

According to a research report that was quoted by Computerworld, iPhones are being purchased "in droves," even though Android is claimed the top spot as the most popular platform of devices that are purchased directly by workers.

IDC forecasts 87.7 million Android phones purchased by workers this year versus 15.1 million bought by businesses. In comparison, businesses will buy 31.1 million iPhones, while 37.1 million workers will acquire iPhones themselves. Both sales volumes will surpass Blackberry devices significantly. According to IDC, workers will buy 5.2 million Blackberry devices and businesses will account for 14.8 million.

The market research firm noted that Research in Motion shipped 22.4 million Blackberrys to businesses in 2011. "BlackBerry continues to be the gold standard for security," IDC said, but added that reduced consumer and developer interest "hinders its viability going forward."

There was no information on projected Windows Phone shipments to businesses.

Wolfgang Gruener is a contributor to Tom's IT Pro. He is currently principal analyst at Ndicio Research, a market analysis firm that focuses on cloud computing and disruptive technologies, and maintains the conceivablytech.com blog. An 18-year veteran in IT journalism and market research, he previously published TG Daily and was managing editor of Tom's Hardware news, which he grew from a link collection in the early 2000s into one of the most comprehensive and trusted technology news sources.

See here for all of Wolfgang's Tom's IT Pro articles.

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Wolfgang Gruener is a contributor to Tom's IT Pro. He is currently principal analyst at Ndicio Research, a market analysis firm that focuses on cloud computing and disruptive technologies, and maintains the conceivablytech.com blog. An 18-year veteran in IT journalism and market research, he previously published TG Daily and was managing editor of Tom's Hardware news, which he grew from a link collection in the early 2000s into one of the most comprehensive and trusted technology news sources.

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