'Big-screen' mobile broadband growth in Asia Pac to hit 32 million by 2015

But will the tablet or the laptop win out in businesses across Asia ?

The number of connections for ‘big-screen’ mobile Internet devices used for business in Asia-Pacific will increase five times over the next five years as the workforce becomes increasingly mobile, predicts Ovum.

According to a new forecast* by the independent telecoms analyst, the number of big-screen broadband connections for devices such as laptops and tablets on enterprise contracts in Asia-Pacific will grow faster than the global average and will hit 32 million by 2015 – up from 5.9 million in 2010 and a compound annual growth (CAGR) rate of 40 per cent.

Use of mobile handsets will continue to dominate the enterprise market with connections on enterprise contracts in Asia-Pacific predicted to hit 83 million by 2015 – a CAGR of 10 per cent from 2010 to 2015. Underlying this trend is a major shift to the use of smartphones in businesses.

Meanwhile, total revenues for the enterprise mobile market in the region will reach $29 billion in 2015, with the majority of growth coming from the use of data services as mobile voice prices commoditise.

Claudio Castelli, Ovum senior analyst, commented: “An increasingly mobile workforce and the intensifying need for them to be able to access data wherever they are is driving the strong predicted growth in the number of enterprise broadband connections.

However, we see that many enterprises find mobility increasingly difficult to manage, particularly as employees increasingly want to bring their own devices, including iPads, iPhones and Android devices, into the workplace and connect these to the company network. In Asia-Pacific, more than in other regions enterprises allow employees with business need for mobility to provide equipment themselves and claim reimbursement for usage from the business. This gives user greater flexibility but puts pressure on IT departments who have to manage the associated risk as well as additional costs to the enterprise.”