In light of yesterday’s announcement of Apple’s record-breaking quarterly results, a recently released study by IDG Connect regarding the use of iPads in business might give some insight into why the iPad continues to be such a runaway success.
IDG Connect came to the conclusion that for business professionals the iPad is more than a mere content consumption tool:
IT and business professionals certainly use their iPads at home. But unlike most consumers, they also use their devices in a similarly intensive way at work. In a further, decisive, break with consumer usage patterns, IT and business professionals use their devices on the road far more frequently than anywhere else.
The numbers are especially striking in Africa. Not only do 75 percent of customers prefer the iPad to other tablet devices, based on what they’ve heard or read (compared to 51 percent in the rest of the world), African professionals are more than twice as likely to be supplied with an iPad by their employer than employees in the rest of the world (47 percent vs. 20.5 percent).
African IT and business professionals also use their iPad differently than those in other countries:
… African professionals use their iPad for entertainment and personal communication less frequently than the norm. At 13%, the proportion who say they use their iPad for “entertainment” is the lowest in the world. Levels of iPad-based work communication are higher than average.
Due to the low propagation of wired internet connections in Africa, mobile internet connections are of great importance. Accordingly, the usage of the iPad 3G equipment is higher than anywhere else in the world, as the graph below nicely illustrates.
The study shows that the iPad’s strengths are definitely being noticed by African businesses and their employees, helping them to be more productive and successful. IDG Connect’s numbers and riots in front of the Beijing Apple Store show that even in developing and threshold countries there is demand for high quality IT equipment that is easy to use and works as advertised. It seems only logical that this demand will increase, potentially giving Apple further record-breaking quarters in the years to come.
I encourage you to read the entire study, which can be found here.
Hat tip to IT Web
