The advent of smartphones – multi-purpose, connected mobile devices – has made a big difference for professional people working in the enterprise.
The ability to make calls, send texts, browse the web and access important work documents on a single handset has offered them much more flexibility in terms of where and when they work.
Employees are no longer tied to the office – they are able to work anywhere they have access to a mobile signal and 3G or 4G connectivity.
This is helping businesses up and down the country to keep productivity rates high when office workers find themselves away from their desks for any reason.
Employees and their bosses are clearly recognising the value that can be added by smartphones – as demonstrated by a recent IDC study.
The research found that smart, connected devices are accounting for an ever-greater share of overall mobile phone sales.
In total, vendors shipped 444.5 million devices during the third quarter of 2012 – 179.7 million of which could be classed as smartphones.
This was up from just 123.7 million units in Q3 2011, showing that in the space of a year, smartphone sales increased by over 50 million in the third quarter.
Ramon Llamas, research manager with IDC’s Mobile Phone team, expects long-term mobile phone and smartphone shipment demand to continue growing.
He noted that mobile phones play a central role in many people’s lives – both at work and at rest – and the more functionality their devices have, the better.
“At the heart of mobility is communication,” Mr Llamas noted.
“Mobile phones and smartphones play a critical role in keeping people connected, regardless of location.”
He said their utility beyond communication – in terms of productivity, entertainment, and multimedia – continues to add to their value.
