Samsung Mobile Index Reveals BYOD Trend at a Tipping Point with Mobile Devices, Becoming Central Hub for Personal, Professional Lives

Twenty-four percent of those consumers currently use a smartphone or tablet as their primary, work-related computing device, with that number expected to double within the next five years

LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Samsung Telecommunications America, LLC (Samsung Mobile) – the No. 1 mobile phone provider in the United States and a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the No. 1 smartphone provider worldwide¹ – commissioned a study to identify behaviors and attitudes of both IT executives and consumers toward the “Bring Your Own Device” or BYOD trend. While both audiences indicate support for BYOD and the work/life-balance benefits it typically enables, the study highlights key synergies as well as critical gaps between IT executives and their employees that will need to be addressed as BYOD becomes the norm within the next two years.

“We have consciously made the decision to provide consumers and businesses with the very best devices for both work and personal use and ensuring SAFE seamlessly addresses the ever changing compliance requirements of IT.”

Among the top findings of the study executed by IDG Research Services, 85% of companies support BYOD today, and more than 70% of IT executives surveyed believe companies without a BYOD strategy will be at a competitive disadvantage. Moreover, 81% of IT decision-makers and 78% of employees believe that having a single mobile device helps balance employees’ work and personal lives.

Yet the gap between IT decision maker and employee outlooks on device priorities and preferences underscores a “disconnect” between what IT executives need in order to achieve business goals and what employees need to do their jobs. The largest difference in opinion exists between the two groups on access to company productivity solutions and resources (i.e. CRM), with 49% of IT executives stating this functionality as a top priority, while only 28% of employees agreed. For 43% of the employees surveyed, the top priority is the ability to share large files compared with just 23% of IT executives.

The most significant concern of both consumers and IT executives is the issue of security. While 49% of consumers surveyed believe that the mobile device will become the primary computing device for work-related activities within the next five years, achieving this level of mobile productivity may depend on whether or not hardware and software providers can address security concerns. The majority of IT executives (84%) and employees (74%) alike identified the issue of device security as the most important factor influencing future BYOD policies such as pre-approved device lists.

“The BYOD Index validates the importance of SAFE – Samsung For Enterprise,” said Tim Wagner, Vice President and GM of Enterprise Sales at Samsung Mobile. “We have consciously made the decision to provide consumers and businesses with the very best devices for both work and personal use and ensuring SAFE seamlessly addresses the ever changing compliance requirements of IT.”

By offering advanced MDM, VPN, EAS and encryption capabilities, the “SAFE™” (Samsung For Enterprise) program helps eliminate fragmentation across carriers, device types and OS versions, making the job of the IT manager much easier in a BYOD environment. SAFE creates consistency across devices so that once one SAFE device is approved by a corporation’s IT department, other SAFE devices can be easily added to the “approved” list for BYOD. By combining these enterprise-grade features with highly desirable smartphones and tablets, Samsung Mobile is helping to foster consumer choice and IT compliance.

For information on the survey methodology, access to comprehensive survey results and to view an infographic that illustrates the perception gaps between IT executives and employees on BYOD preferences, policies, device functionality and benefits, visit www.samsung.com/byodindex.

For more information about Samsung’s SAFE program, please refer to www.samsung.com/us/safe.

Samsung and SAFE and are trademarks of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

¹ Samsung Mobile is the No. 1 mobile phone provider in the United States based upon reported shipment data, according to Strategy Analytics, North America Handset Vendor Marketshare, Q3 2012. Samsung Electronics Company is the No. 1 smartphone provider worldwide based upon reported shipment data, according to Strategy Analytics Global Smartphone Vendor Market Share by Region: Q3 2012.

SAFE Disclaimer: Disclaimer of Warranties: EXCEPT AS OTHERWISE PROVIDED IN THEIR STANDARD END USER LICENSE AND WARRANTY, TO THE FULL EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD., SAMSUNG TELECOMMUNICATIONS AMERICA, LLC, AND THEIR AFFILIATES (COLLECTIVELY REFERRED TO HEREIN AS THE “SAMSUNG ENTITIES”) EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING ANY WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, INTEROPERABILITY OR NON-INFRINGEMENT, WITH RESPECT TO INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SECURITY PROTECTION, SAFE™ DEVICES AND APPLICATIONS TESTED WITH SAFE™ DEVICES. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE SAMSUNG ENTITIES BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, PUNITIVE, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND WHATSOEVER WITH RESPECT TO INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SECURITY PROTECTION, SAFE™ DEVICES OR APPLICATIONS TESTED WITH SAFE™ DEVICES. In addition, information technology security protection will be affected by features or functionality associated with, among other things the e-mail platform, master data management, and virtual private network solutions selected by the software provider, solution provider or user. Choice of an e-mail, master data management, and virtual private network solution is at the sole discretion of the software provider, solution provider or user and any associated effect on information technology security protection is solely the responsibility of the software provider, solution provider or user. For complete statement of limited warranty, please refer to www.samsung.com/us/safe, available on the web and where Samsung smartphone and Galaxy Tab™ devices are sold.

About Samsung Telecommunications America

Samsung Telecommunications America, LLC, (Samsung Mobile) a Dallas-based subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., researches, develops and markets wireless handsets, wireless infrastructure and other telecommunications products throughout North America. For more information, please visit www.samsung.com.

About Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in consumer electronics and the core components that go into them. Through relentless innovation and discovery, we are transforming the worlds of televisions, smartphones, personal computers, printers, cameras, home appliances, medical devices, semiconductors and LED solutions. We employ 227,000 people across 75 countries with annual sales exceeding US$143 billion. Our goal is opening new possibilities for people everywhere. To discover more, please visit www.samsung.com.