iPhone have now beaten Blackberry in Business

Smartphones at Work (source: iPass)

A new study contains more evidence the iPhone is taking hold at work, even displacing the stolid business-centric BlackBerry as the smartphone of choice. Of enterprise workers carrying a smartphone, 45 percent said the handset is an iPhone versus 32 percent for the BlackBerry.

According to the Mobile Workforce Report (pdf) from researcher iPass, the percent of enterprise employees packing iPhones rose from 31.1 percent in 2010, while BlackBerry users in the workforce fell from 35 percent. The decline in BlackBerry users was largely due to the RIM device not being able to keep up with the growth of smartphones in the workplace, the report explained.

That slowdown was evident in answers to what smartphone business employees intend to buy in 2012. While 18 percent of enterprise workers plan to get an iPhone, just 2.3 percent said they would buy a BlackBerry.

Android in the enterprise came in a close third, just behind the BlackBerry, registering 21 percent of the business market, overtaking Symbian and doubling its market share from 2010. More than 11 percent of enterprise workers said they plan to buy an Android smartphone next year, with 3.6 percent picking a Windows Phone.