As tablets continue to become more established workplace tools, the pressure on IT departments to enable the practice of BYOD and to ensure the enterprise has the infrastructure and policies in place to secure corporate data and systems, continues to grow.
According to Strategy Analytics, global business (personal and corporate liable) tablet shipments will grow at six percent CAGR between 2015 and 2020, reaching 110.2 million units in 2020.
“While the tablet market overall has become somewhat saturated resulting in slowed growth, business tablet shipments are expected to be a bright spot and ramp up in the next several years as businesses shift computing models from PCs or laptops to 2-in-1 tablets,” says Gina Luk, Senior Analyst of Mobile Workforce Strategies.
“Partnerships forged by vendors such as Apple, Samsung, Microsoft, and HP demonstrate how these players see the tablet potential in the Enterprise.”
In addition, Luk says work being done in areas such as security, bespoke enterprise apps, always-on connectivity, ruggedised designs, and accessory support will make this push into enterprise a longer-term success.
Strategy Analytics’ findings also report that the worldwide business tablet market reached 26.3 million unit shipments in Q4 2015, up 36.7 percent sequentially from Q3 2015, bolstered by seasonality.
The business tablet market overall declined seven percent in 2015 year on year from 2014, as personal liable tablet shipments slowed, while corporate liable tablet shipments ramped up significantly, a trend that is expected to continue, as prices on tablets are reduced, security and management concerns are addressed and businesses shift computing models from PCs and laptops to 2-in-1 tablets.
“APAC and Africa Middle East saw stronger business tablet growth quarter-over-quarter as well as year over year compared to other regions,” Luk adds.
Overall business tablet shipments showed healthy growth in the fourth quarter, despite a slower year for business tablets overall.
“Expanding partnerships between tablet vendors, enterprise software and infrastructure vendors, pushed productivity, and alleviated management and security challenges for these devices in the enterprise,” adds Andrew Brown, Executive Director of Enterprise Research, Strategy Analytics.