Apple's iOS takes 'dramatic lead' over Android in enterprise apps

For developers, Android is becoming more of a consumer-oriented platform, while iOS has taken the lead in business, according to a new survey.

The findings from a joint survey of more than 3,500 Appcelerator developers from around the world were announced on Tuesday in conjunction with International Data Corporation. The full report highlights changing dynamics in the enterprise mobile application development space, where Apple's iOS has opened up a 16 point lead over Google's Android among developers who think the iPhone and iPad will win out in business.

"The big news is that Apple's iOS took a dramatic lead over Google's Android in the enterprise app space," said Scott Ellison, vice president, Mobile and Connected Consumer Platforms at IDC. "For developers, Android appears to be evolving more towards a consumer play, which in turn provides a key competitive opening for Microsoft in the enterprise mobile app space."

The survey found that 53.2 percent of developers say they believe iOS will win out in the enterprise, compared with 37.3 percent of developers backing Android. The poll shows a major shift from the third quarter of 2011, when developers viewed iOS and Android in a dead heat, with 44 percent saying each would win out.

Appcelerator and IDC said on Tuesday they believe the shift is attributed to the growing strength of Apple in the enterprise. Specific reasons cited were corporate adoption of the iPad, regular reporting of malware on Android, and challenges in the enterprise associated with Android fragmentation.

The bright spot for Android in the report is that interest labels appear to have stabilized, and are no longer dropping in favor of Apple's iOS platform.

The survey also found that enterprise-focused developers are "cautiously optimistic about Windows 8 tablets. Developers are said to find Microsoft's Metro user interface found on Windows 8 and Windows Phone to be particularly compelling.

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22 Comments

blackbook

said about 11 years ago

This makes sense to me and essentially spells the final nail in the coffin for blackberry. Nothing can beat the iPhone/iPad combo for enterprise right now.

suddenly newton

said about 11 years ago

Saw a RIM print ad for the PlayBook with OS 2.0. They were positioning it as a business tool. And that's an uphill battle.

mstone

said about 11 years ago

It was really smart of Apple to license the MS Exchange Sync. That really opened the door.

One of my friends told me about her corporate IT manager as reportedly saying that they could not support iPhones because the software was incompatible with Exchange, duh clueless! Anyway I told her how to set it up herself. It took all of 2 minutes once we determined the mail server name and IP. Then she shared the solution with all the other iPhone users at the company and everyone was hush, hush about it. Once the IT guy found out he was really embarrassed because he had been 'dissing' the iPhone. Happy ending is that now he uses an iPhone too - and an iPad.

anonymouse

said about 11 years ago

Quote:

Fixed that for you AI.

sflocal

said about 11 years ago

Quote:

Originally Posted by mstone

It was really smart of Apple to license the MS Exchange Sync. That really opened the door.

I find this ignorance a lot in the workplace and clients that I deal with. We have an administrator at one site that kept dissing Apple (it's a "toy" mentality) and every time management would look into getting iPhones and iPads, he would shoot it down with complete dis-information. He "was" and Android fanboy. Management would then walk over to me and ask how I'm able to get all my work done (I used to be the only person using a Mac at the office, and using company stuff via iPads and iPhones) using an iPhone and/or iPad and I showed them. Exchange was a huge deal. They were only a blackberry shop and the admin wanted them to go to Android which I warned management against for their lack of any real security models.

The admin was quite clueless about what iOS was capable of. It's what irritates me about Android fanboys so much that their hatred of all things Apple clouds their judgement and they are in a position to dictate technology without knowing all the options.

Now, that one site ditched all their blackberries, went with all iPhones. Now, I am spearheading a project to get standalone apps designed for iPads to deploy to our sales force. And the admin - he owns an iPhone now. Surprisingly, all the mobile devices now have had zero problems compared to the headaches he had in the past with the android phones he tried pushing. He's a believer now.

And now, my "boss" at this site had me order and configure for him a new retina Macbook Pro with a 27" LED monitor running Windows7 via VMware Fusion as he got to see me use my setup every day at the office and never had a need to have the admin touch my machine. More people now want the same.

It's nice when products "just work" and you can use them as the tools they are supposed to be and not babysit them so that admins can justify their job.