Businesses favour Windows Phone 8 over BlackBerry 10

 

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By Nicole Kobie

Posted on 8 Feb 2013 at 16:36

IT departments are more likely to support Windows Phone 8 handsets than the newly released BlackBerry 10, according to a survey.

The iPhone last year surpassed the previous generation of BlackBerry as the most popular smartphone in corporates, and the new OS faces an uphill struggle to win back businesses, according to a survey of businesses by Wi-Fi firm iPass.

"BlackBerry is still entrenched in the enterprise but it seems that it is being phased out," the report said.

The report found 34% of IT departments intend to support BlackBerry 10 devices, such as the BlackBerry Z10, while 45% plan to support Windows Phone 8 handsets.

"IT is more bullish on Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8 handsets than on RIM’s BlackBerry 10 phones," the report said.

"Optimism about Windows Phone 8 appears to directly correlate with Nokia’s influence over a region," it added. "IT managers located in Nokia’s strongest markets (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) were the most upbeat about Windows Phone 8 where 54% of IT managers say they plan to support Windows Phone 8, compared to 42% in North America and 37% in Asia."

Android and the iPhone "clearly have more positive IT momentum than BlackBerry", the report added, saying 11% of companies that don't yet support iOS plan to start in 2013, while 13% say the same of Android.

Tablets move down

Tablets will continue to be popular in businesses, but their use will start to extend from executives to other employees.

The report found that 81% of IT departments supported tablet use for executives last year, seeing no growth from 2011, while support grew for tablets in areas such as sales, marketing, and engineering.

"In a BYOD [bring your own device] world, changes often start with executives, but eventually trickle down, benefiting a broader group of workers," the report noted.