Apple Will Blitz Windows In Business Say Researchers

Apple device adoption in the enterprise is surging, research suggests, with one in five information workers now using at least one Apple gadget for work, even if they have to buy it themselves. Forrester Research surveyed 10,000 people and found 11-percent use iPhones and 9-percent use iPads in their daily business, concluding that 81-percent of companies will support or are interested in supporting the iPad and 55-percent the iPhone this year.

The trend isn't limited to iOS devices either. 8-percent of those surveyed use Macs, Forrester found, and 63-percent of companies surveyed either support or are interested in supporting Mac adoption. Almost half of enterprises questioned issue Macs to at least part of their workforce, with plans for a 52-percent increase in that number this year.

Perhaps the most interesting part is related to age, with Windows use still strong among older staff while younger workers are supposedly twice as likely to use Apple products instead. That's even the case for those on lower payment rungs; 17-percent of those on under $12k per year opt for Apple, even though cheaper alternatives might be available.

Forrester reckons that trend will eventually "end Windows's dominance" while also helping to "blunt Android in the enterprise with product consistency and a simpler ecosystem," and eventually "become the largest tech vendor by revenues in 2012." Ambitious, but with the PC market apparently doing its level best to shrink to nothing while Apple reports record sales, not entirely difficult to believe.