Issuing corporate smart phones isn’t just about catering to the preferences of the next generation. As a lower-cost alternative to company laptops, mobile phones might be better suited to the current economic climate

Global consulting firm Accenture Ltd. revealed stark contrasts between Baby Boomers and Generation Y in a recent survey that polled 3,000 adults across the U.S. on their consumer electronics preferences and habits.

According to the survey, 50 per cent of Boomers (aged 45 and up) prefer computers over all other consumer technology products, while 27 per cent prefer mobile handsets. Of the Gen Y (18 to 24 years old) users polled, 51 per cent would rather use mobile handsets and only 22 per cent prefer PCs.

“As the mobile platform evolves, it’s going to become a more important terminal to the corporate network than the traditional laptop,” said Kumu Puri, senior executive at Accenture’s consumer technology practice.

Puri recommended enterprise IT departments start thinking about where mobile applications are going to be used. “With Gen Y, as they grow up in the workplace, it will be a lot more about the mobile platform, which is a pretty big difference from where most enterprise applications are used today,” she said.

Mobile applications are already being geared towards enterprise use, according to Tim Hickernell, lead analyst at Info-Tech Research Group Inc.

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