Navigating The Increasingly Complex Mobile Device Landscape

The mobile device space continues to be highly dynamic, with companies adopting a wide variety of form factors and operating systems, as well as a mix of both rugged and consumer-grade hardware. Much of the shake-up in the device market has been caused by the use of both smartphones and new tablet devices in field applications.

But handheld devices seem to be making a comeback. While tablets have been the fastest growing mobile device segment for several years, handheld devices still rule in field service. According to our survey, 51.79 percent of respondents are using handhelds or smartphones (up from 45 percent last year), compared to 24.4 percent using tablets and 22.62 percent using laptops, notebooks, or convertibles.

The Current OS Landscape

There has been a relatively rapid shift in operating systems when it comes to enterprise mobile solutions. In the past, Windows and its mobile derivatives (CE, Windows Mobile, etc.) dominated. With the adoption of more consumerstyle devices, the landscape has shifted significantly.

Windows is still the most common OS at 31.29 percent, but Apple’s iOS is in second place with 26.38 percent of respondents, and Android devices are used by 15.34 percent. Apple’s growth in the enterprise has come at the expense of both Windows (which is down nearly 7 percentage points from last year) and Android (which lost almost 3 points).