Samsung pips Apple to gain top spot in enterprise: study

While Samsung and Apple fight it out to gain most consumer mind space, market research firm ABI Research has found that Samsung actually has an edge over Apple when it comes to usage in the enterprise.

ABI Research’s Enterprise Smartphone vendor matrix concluded that, overall, Samsung is number one followed closely by Apple, with BlackBerry rounding out the top three.

The vendor matrix ranks companies based on scoring in Implementation and Innovation categories. Nine smartphone manufacturers were compared on eighteen criteria including workspace management solutions, partnerships and business customer adoption. Samsung’s large and diversified partner network coupled with it being the first Android original equipment manufacturer to offer an integrated enterprise solution pushed the company to the number one spot.

The vendor matrix score separating Samsung and Apple was less than a single point.

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Apple received extremely high marks in Implementation due to high iOS smartphone adoption by business users and because its smartphones are the most activated device within EMM/MDM (Enterprise Mobility Management/Mobile Device Management) platforms.

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Samsung, on the other hand, was ranked as more innovative with a wider range of enterprise devices and better security features. Samsung’s higher innovation scores led to its number one ranking.

The third place ranking for BlackBerry was driven by lower implementation scores, yet it still received high scores in innovation. The company has a shrinking smartphone market share in an intensely competitive environment. Even so, BlackBerry is still considered the gold standard in enterprise security supported by recent BES enhancements for multi-OS and dual-persona device management.

Samsung, in order to grow and maintain its lead, needs to proceed with caution.

Recently, vulnerabilities were discovered in its Knox security platform which is intended to add a new layer of secure services for businesses on top of Android.

According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, the vulnerability could allow malicious hackers to “easily intercept” secure data on Knox-enabled Samsung smartphones.

“The new unveiled vulnerability presents a serious threat to all users of phones based on [Knox] architecture,” Ben-Gurion University security researcher Dudu Mimran was quoted as saying in the report. The security gap can apparently be used to monitor and steal data communications and also to track emails sent to and from handsets like the Galaxy S4.

Samsung responded to the report, stating that it is looking into the researchers’ claims but an initial investigation suggests that the security hole isn’t as severe as Mimran and his team have stated.

Beyond Apple and Samsung, rivals BlackBerry and Nokia are going to be battling for the third spot for some time to come.

“BlackBerry and Nokia are battling for the number three spot in the enterprise mobility market. BlackBerry has more enterprise mobility experience; however, Nokia now has the backing of Microsoft. Couple these advantages with the recent struggles by Apple and Samsung means that opportunity exists for BlackBerry and Nokia to gain market share and subsequently improve their ranking.“Jason McNicol, senior analyst at ABI, said.