IDC Forecasts Dip in Mobile Management Software Sales

Mobile management software sales will continue to grow over the next four years, but at a slower pace than previously anticipated, according to the latest forecast from IDC.

Mobile management software sales are predicted to grow to $2.9 billion in 2019, for an annual increase of about 10 percent. And while this number is certainly nothing to sneeze at, it marks a significant drop from the 27 percent recorded growth rate for mobile management software vendors in 2014, when global revenues totaled $1.4 billion.

“As mobile has gone from a nice-to-have to must-have, organizations are deploying an increasing number of mobile applications and need to move from deploying basic device management technology to more sophisticated application and content management functionality,” said IDC analyst Stacy Crook in an article in Computerworld.

So what does this mean for enterprise mobile management vendors? Although the market may be slowing, it’s far too soon to count the EMM market as down and out, especially when looking at such an extended forecast. There are plenty of untold factors that could lead to market changes between now and 2019, but the updated figure does give us something to use as a barometer in terms of overall global interest.

ComputerWorld also cited a recent CompTIA study that shows companies are moving away from BYOD, although IDC noted that EMM growth rates and BYOD growth rates are not related. Regardless of whether companies begin eliminating personally owned devices in the workplace in favor of corporate-owned ones, mobility management software will still play an important role in protecting sensitive information from prying eyes.

With such a wealth of EMM vendors on the market, the predicted drop in revenue might stem from market oversaturation, similar to the problem the tablet industry is currently experiencing. But like any forecast, it’s important to remember that nothing is set in stone, and numbers can change in an instant.