If you’ve already written off Microsoft in the smartphone wars, it may be time to write them back in.
The updated Enterprise Smartphone Competitive Assessment from ABI Research concludes that, overall, Apple is number one followed closely by Samsung.
But — and this is a BIG but – Microsoft is still an emerging player in this space.
BlackBerry maintained its third place ranking, but Microsoft (Nokia) showed the most improvement, ABI reports.
While BlackBerry was able to maintain its ranking, lower than expected device shipments hindered the company’s overall score. Microsoft (Nokia), on the other hand, saw a rising number of devices enrolled in EMM programs. Couple this with security updates to the Windows Phone platform enabled the company to improve the overall score significantly.
“The enterprise smartphone market has intensified in the past six months,” says senior analyst Jason McNicol. “Leaders Apple and Samsung have made significant improvements in their device and software offerings making both OEMs more appealing to the enterprise. Apple, however, with its recent announcement with IBM was able to squeeze past Samsung for the number one ranking.”
