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A new research, “Wireless Handsets in US Businesses: Unit Purchases by Size of Business and Vertical, 2010–2015,” from In-Stat (News - Alert) predicts that the smartphone unit purchases among small office and home office (SOHO) customers will increase over 44 percent from 2010 to 2015.

Typical smartphones run operating systems such as Android (News - Alert), iOS, BlackBerry OS, WebOS, or Symbian. These smartphones are used with a data plan and provide Internet-based functionality such as Internet browsing, e-mail, and smartphone applications.

While proliferation of smartphones is evident and will continue in all sizes of businesses, the growth of these devices in SOHO market with 1 to 4 employees is remarkable, according to In-Stat. The growth is primarily attributed to the benefits of having data access in their wireless handsets.

Greg Potter, In-Stat analyst, says, “Employees can now work efficiently either on the road or at home, with access to e-mail and other business applications from their smartphones. This creates a more connected and engaged workforce.” While the smartphone purchase will increase among all types of business users, there will be decline in the purchase of non-smartphones. According to In-Stat, non-smartphone unit purchases are set to decline 32 percent from 2010 to 2015. The study also estimates enterprises will purchase over 19 million phones in 2015. Over 27 million smartphones will be sold to businesses in the U.S. in 2015.

Among the business verticals, healthcare and social services vertical will grow from 3.9 million phones purchased to 4.5 million for the reporting period, the report said.

The In-Stat research forecasts purchases of the U.S. business wireless handset units for the 2010-2015 period with detailed segmentation by product category, size of business, corporate liable spending, individual liable spending, and vertical market.

Earlier this year, In-Stat predicted that unit shipments for smartphones in the U.S will reach nearly 850 million by 2015 and more than half of U.S. handsets will be smartphones by 2012.

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