Information Industry - Rapid Diffusion of Tablet PCs

The utilisation of tablet PCs among companies of the information industry is rapidly growing. Already 25 per cent of the companies provide their staff with tablets. This number is expected to grow by another 12 per cent until the end of 2012. These are the findings of a survey among companies of the information industry conducted by the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) in Mannheim in cooperation with Creditreform, Neuss, in September 2011.

The information industry embraces the ICT-sector (ICT-hardware and ICT services), the media industry, and knowledge-intensive service providers (legal and tax consultancy, accounting, public relations and management consultancy, architecture, engineering, chemical and physical research and development, advertising, market assessment, and other freelance, scientific and technical activities).

"Top companies within the information industry concerning the utilization of tablet PCs are media companies with an expected rate of 59 per cent in 2012, ICT-service providers, whose rate will grow from 31 per cent this year to 45 per cent next year", explains Irene Berschek, head of the research group Information and Communication Technologies at the ZEW.

As mobile devices, tablet PCs allow you to access your emails and data, anywhere you have a functional Internet access. Mobile Internet on tablets, laptops and mobile phones make companies’ staff much more mobile. ICT-service providers have the largest number, where nearly 35 per cent of the staff uses such a mobile Internet access. In 2012, this rate is expected to grow up to 44 per cent. With 17 per cent, the ICT-hardware sector ranges at the bottom, and there is no significant upswing expected for 2012. The companies of the media industry expect that next year, about 38 per cent of their staff will be equipped with a mobile Internet access. Compared to this year, this means an increase by 10 per cent. Meanwhile, the utilization rate among the staff of knowledge-intensive service providers is expected to grow by only 2 per cent to 33 per cent.

Still, the tablet PC has not overtaken smartphones. It is an innovation in mobile, internet-capable devices. All in all, more than 60 per cent of all companies say that they provide their staff with smartphones. The second most devices are UMTS cards with 48 per cent, followed by internet-capable mobile phones with about 44 per cent. A comparison within the sector shows that mobile devices are most frequently used by ICT-service providers (50 per cent Internet-capable mobile phones, 78 per cent smartphones, 68 per cent of UMTS cards).

The rapid diffusion of mobile Internet technology promotes a further decentralization of business processes and workplaces, which already began with the introduction of the PC. More flexibility, access to all information, anywhere, availability anytime, these are the advantages – but also the disadvantages – of this communication media. The exciting question is, if and when mobile Internet-capable devices will replace the traditional PC.

For further information please contact

Miruna Sarbu, Phone +49 621/1235-334, E-mail: sarbu@zew.de

Economic Sentiment Survey by ZEW/Crefitreform

Together with Creditreform, the Centre for European Economic Research every quarter interviews about 8000 companies with at least 5 employees from (1) the ICT-hardware sector, (2) the ICT-service providers, (3) the media industry, (4) legal and tax consultancy, accounting, (5) public relations and management consultancy, (6) architecture and engineering, technical, physical and chemical research, (7) research and development, advertising and market assessment, (9) other freelance, scientific and technical activities. All nine sectors together form the information industry. ICT-hardware and ICT-services together form the ICT-sector. The last six sectors comprise the knowledge-intensive service providers.

Comments on the projection

To provide representative analyses, the ZEW projects the answers of the participants in the survey to the number of all companies or the number of all employees within the sector.