Skip to main content

Most Common Business Uses for New Media Tablets

Truly, a media tablet has been one of the most eagerly adopted new devices in the consumer electronics market since the Apple iPad launch in 2010.

Moreover, during the past year, tablet use has begun to crossover from the consumer world into the workplace. Business use of tablets is expected to rise in 2012, as more people learn about the introduction of new BYOD workplace policies by their employer.

According to the latest U.S. market study by NPD In-Stat, the most common business uses of tablets are email or calendar management, note taking, and presentations -- with 77 percent of survey respondents reporting that email as a common workplace use.

"Email is by far the most dominant tablet application for business users," says Frank Dickson, VP Mobile Research at NPD In-Stat.

However, when you dig into the data, you find a plethora of strong niche uses arising. When business tablet users are asked to list ALL the applications they use, note taking, for example, is listed as the second most popular application.

However, when survey respondents are asked to only select their most important uses, note taking is at the bottom of that list. In addition to email, customer relationship management and IT network intelligence are listed as most important uses.


Highlights from the latest market study findings include:
  • Less than half of respondents felt they were allowed to connect to the corporate network.
  • The current dynamic is that users are bringing their own tablets into the workplace.
  • Only 22 percent of owners in our survey had their tablets paid for by their companies.
  • There is a high correlation between the usage of 3G on tablets and the frequency of business travel.

Popular posts from this blog

The Smartphone Market's Premium Pivot

The global smartphone market closed 2025 with a story less about recovery and more about transformation. Premium product, ecosystem lock-in, and manufacturing scale are now the forces shaping competition. For business and technology leaders, the latest IDC market study data confirms that smartphones remain a critical indicator of consumer demand, supply chain health, and AI commercialization at the edge. Smartphone Market Development Global smartphone shipments grew 2.3 percent year-over-year in Q4 2025, reaching 336.3 million units and bringing full-year volumes to 1.26 billion units — a modest 1.9 percent annual increase, according to IDC. This smartphone growth emerged despite a memory shortage crisis, tariff volatility, supply chain disruption, and macroeconomic headwinds. What stabilized demand? Two factors: sustained growth in premium devices and strong foldable momentum, combined with accelerated purchases as consumers bought ahead of anticipated price increases. Buyers weren...