Apple iOS Leads Android In Enterprise Activations

The Apple iPhone and iPad made up more than half of third-quarter new activations of mobile devices by enterprise customers of Good Technology, a messaging and mobile management software company.

In its first quarterly metrics report, Good Technology found that the devices based on Apple's iOS, which include the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS and iPad, led rivals in new deployments. However, enterprise use of smartphones and other devices running Google's Android operating system was rising fast, representing nearly 30% of new activations during the same time period.

Microsoft's Windows Mobile came in third in the survey, representing 15% of enterprise deployments. Devices based on Nokia's Symbian OS represented less than 5% of new activations.

The iPhone 4 and the iPad, launched in late June and early April, respectively, fueled Apple's rise in the enterprise, Good Technology said. Android, which is available on a wide variety of devices, rose by roughly 10 percentage points during the five-month period covered in the study.

"As an increasing number of Android devices, including both smartphones and tablet form factors, come to market, we expect this growth in Android device activations to continue to increase accordingly," the report released last week said.

Good Technology's findings on Android are in line with a recent mobile app developer survey. In a poll of 2,363 developers, Appcelerator, makers of the Titanium cross-platform mobile development software, and research firm IDC, found that developers believe Android has a better long-term outlook than iOS, even as they continue to rate the latter better in terms of app sales, discoverability and hardware. Most research rates Android as the fastest growing mobile platform.

Good Technology's study is based on internal data gathered from its customers, which include 40 Fortune 100 companies. The study does not include Research In Motion's BlackBerry smartphone, because RIM sells its own software for corporate email access.

Among Good Technology's customers, the iPhone 4 became the most frequently activated device within the first month of its release. The iPad entered the top five most activated devices less than two months after its release. The only individual Android models to crack the top five during the quarter were HTC's Droid Incredible and Motorola's Droid X.

Interestingly, 70% of companies deploying the iPad had not activated any other devices with Good Technology, while the remaining 30% had at least one other iOS or Android device.

More than 40% of Good Technology customers support both iOS and Android devices, and nearly 20% support three or more mobile platforms.

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