The iPad isn’t just a hot new consumer device, it’s also an increasingly popular tool for business. Each week we take a look at the new or updated business apps for the iPad, and highlight trends in how tablets are being used in the enterprise.
This week we didn’t see any new business apps for the iPad, unless you count Adobe’s new Photoshop apps, but there are some other interesting developments. For example tablets are finally cutting into the sales of PCs.
Tablets Cutting Into PC Sales – But Only for Consumers
According to Gartner, PC sales in Q1 2011 were 1.1% lower than Q1 sales in 2010. Gartner blames the dip on weak demand for PCs from consumers – due in part to tablets. Enterprises obviously aren’t ditching desktops yet. In fact business PC sales, driven by PC refresh cycles, were a “bright spot” for the PC market.
iPad to Dominate Tablet Market Until 2015
Also, we reported that Gartner forecasts iPad dominance through 2015. It’s hard to put much stock into these sorts of forecasts – the slate category didn’t even exist four years ago – but betting on the iPad seems pretty safe right now.
Doctors Prefer iPads, but Android Gaining
An announcement from Bulletin Healthcare reveals that 90% of the over 550,000 healthcare professionals who read its daily e-mail briefings from mobile devices do so on iOS devices. Android trailed with only 6%, but doubled its share over the period examined – June 1, 2010 through February 28, 2011. Other platforms, such as BlackBerry and WebOS, “barely registered.”
Healthcare is a commonly cited sector for iPad use, and we mentioned an app for cardiologists last week.
BlackBerry Releases Its iPad Competitor
Yesterday we reported on the BlackBerry Playbook, which was released to luke warm reviews. We also took a look at the state of BlackBerry maker RIM.
