Technology has created an ever-growing business scenario and the consumerization trend is taking IT to new heights each day. According to the latest Gartner predictions, 821 million smart devices (smartphones and tablets) will be purchased worldwide by the end of 2012 and the numbers will pass the billion mark in 2013.
"For most businesses smartphones and tablets will not entirely replace PCs, but the ubiquity of smartphones and the increasing popularity of tablets are changing the way businesses look at their device strategies and the way consumers embrace devices," said Carolina Milanesi, research vice president at Gartner.
Talking at the Gartner Symposium/ITxpo 2012, Milanesi said two-thirds of the mobile workforce will own a smartphone and 40 percent of the workforce will be mobile by 2016. Tablets will accelerate the mobility and according to Gartner estimates, tablet purchases by businesses will hit 13 million units in 2012 and by 2016, it will more than triple to reach 53 million units.
Further predictions suggest that 56 percent of smartphones purchased by businesses in North America and Europe will be Android devices in 2016, up from 34 percent in 2012. According to Milanesi, Blackberry maker Research In Motion (RIM) faces the tough challenge and she said, "As businesses are looking for a multi-device strategy and a rich application portfolio it is clear that RIM has a huge challenge ahead in regaining its key presence in the enterprise."
