News
Issue #2002 - 28 (July 2002)
(Updated July 23, 2002)

MARKET OUTLOOK & TRENDS

U.S. Mobile Workforce to Grow Twice as Fast as General Workforce, Study Finds

Although the September 11 attacks and concern about the economy have prompted companies to scale back business travel over the past nine months, the total mobile workforce continues to grow, said a report from IDC entitled "U.S. Mobile Worker Population Forecast and Analysis, 2002-2006." Composed of more than the classic "road warriors," today's mobile workers may just be visiting a nearby site or a conference room on another floor. According to IDC, the number of mobile workers in the U.S. will increase by 12.7 million between 2001 and 2006, from 92 million to 105 million. In contrast, the number of workers who are not mobile will actually decline by two million through 2006, down to 53.8 million. This means that by the end of 2006, roughly two-thirds of U.S. workers will be mobile workers, IDC said. "With portable PCs and cell phones in the 1980s and 1990s, mobile workers could stay in touch with customers and colleagues . Now with wireless networks and VPNs -- virtual private networks -- they have access to a full range of corporate resources," said Raymond Boggs, program vice president for IDC's small business/home office services. 

For more information: http://idc.com

Additional Source: Wireless Newsfactor

MobileInfo Advisory & Comments: there is no doubt that physical mobility is increasing in the business world. Therefore, there is an increasing market for mobile applications but the kind we are talking about are B2B (business to business) and B2E (business to employees). There is good business case for automating enterprise applications. There is potentially a huge B2C (business to consumer) wireless market but that will take a while to mature in big numbers. 

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