Android growth threatens Blackberry dominance in enterprise

Google's Android mobile operating system (OS) will make gains in the enterprise market in the coming years, threatening the dominance of Blackberry devices, according to research.

Research by analyst firm Ovum shows 26% of corporate devices will run on Android by 2016, compared with only 27% business devices being Blackberry smartphones. Blackberry currently represents 40% of corporate smartphone shipments.
Apple's iPhone devices are also expected to increase shipments for business use by 11%, from 4.9 million in 2011 to 9.3 million in 2016.
"Blackberry will retain its overall lead over the forecast period as its strong device management and security capabilities make it a favourite with IT departments," said Pauline Trotter, Ovum principal analyst. "However, Android and iOS devices will make significant gains, reflecting trends in the consumer smartphone market."
"Ongoing improvements in manageability of these device platforms and support for more business applications will begin to make these devices much more appealing to enterprise buyers," she added.
Google's Android platform is now the most popular for malicious mobile programs, overtaking other platforms as well as "generic" Java malware, according to security firm Kaspersky Lab.
Overall shipments of business smartphones are predicted to increase to 54 million by 2016 from 29 million at the end of 2011.
Business Android shipments are predicted to reach 4.7 million by the end of 2011. Blackberry business shipments at the end of the year are expected to reach 10.9 million.