iPhone Crowned New King Of The Enterprise

A recent survey shows that the iPhone has dethroned the long-reigning king of the enterprise, RIM's BlackBerry, for business use. Quickly catching up to the Blackberry is Google's Android OS.

Enterprise mobility provider iPass polled over 2,300 enterprise workers for its quarterly Mobile Workforce Report, and found that the iPhone now makes up 45% of phones used by mobile workers. This is up from 31% in 2010.

The BlackBerry, which was for years the preferred handset of the enterprise user, has fallen to second place. It now makes up 32.2% of the mobile worker market, down from 34.5%. According to iPass, this doesn't necessarily mean that the BlackBerry is losing its place in the sector, rather it's a testament to just how quickly its rivals are growing in popularity.

This might come as no surprise to some. While RIM's BlackBerry seems to be less and less popular, iPhone and Android handsets continue to fly into the hands of consumers.

The popularity of Apple's iOS platform has continued to grow as users adopt not only the iPhone, but the iPad as well. These devices work hand-in-hand, leaving little reason for users not to choose iOS.

RIM’s Blackberry is losing share to Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android-based handsets.

The Android platform also is seeing significant growth. It's up from 11.3% to 21.3%, nearly doubling from 2010 and placing Nokia at fourth place with 7.4% of the market. Just last year, Android made up 11.3% and Nokia was topping it at 12.4%.

As for overall smartphone use, 95% of mobile workers currently carry smartphones. This is a 10% jump from 85% in 2010. Of those, 91% use their smartphone for work, which is up significantly from 2010's 69%.

Perhaps unexpected is that 58% of companies provision smartphones to their employees. This is down from roughly two-thirds of companies just a year ago. This is likely because 42% of employees already carry smartphones, purchasing and paying for their own handsets. iPass says it's part of a growing trend as companies loosen their grip on liability and allow employees to carry their own smartphones, with their own liabilities.

Smartphones are becoming increasingly more prevalent. Devices that were once regarded as something carried by business professionals are now carried around by teenagers who want to Tweet and post Facebook updates throughout the course of their school day. The iPhone is unique in that it caters not only to business professionals and gadget geeks, but moms and dads who ordinarily are not as 'hip' to technology.

The iPhone is expected to dominate into 2012, leaving Android and Windows Mobile platforms far behind in second and third place, respectively.

You can read the full iPass survey here.