Findings Show Small Businesses Begin Trend Toward Tablet Usage

Grazed from PRNewsWire. Author: PR Announcement.

Newtek Business Services, NASDAQ: NEWT, The Small Business Authority, with a portfolio of over 100,000 business accounts, announced today the findings of its SB Authority Market Sentiment Survey, a monthly window into the concerns of independent business owners.

Based on a poll of over 2,100 respondents, one of the key findings from the August survey is 67% of business owners do not currently run business applications on a smartphone or tablet. Additionally, only 14% think they will replace their PC with a smartphone or tablet in the future…

The full August 2012 results showed the following:

Poll Question / Poll Answer / Percentage
Do you run business applications on a smartphone or tablet?

Yes
33%

No
67%

Do you think you will replace your PC with a smartphone or tablet?

Yes
14%

No
86%

Barry Sloane, Chairman, President and CEO of The Small Business Authority, commented, "We believe the long term trend toward cloud computing and small business using tablets and smartphones has started. We believe mobile computing and mobile applications are here to stay and will revolutionize the way business is done today. We believe the use of paper printing and connectivity with desktops and printers will go to the wayside, much like Polaroid cameras. We are somewhat surprised that those non-mobile application participants do not recognize that they will be moving over to tablet use, as only 14 percent of those non-users interviewed said they intend or believe they will switch in the future.

"We will sample this survey every six to twelve months to check on the trend. We strongly believe that cloud computing and mobile applications for business will be a major trend and wave that will totally increase business efficiency. This trend will also protect our environment by less use of paper and a need to cut down forests and trees. We also see businesses saving a lot of money and becoming much more efficient with fingertip data and much more reporting and computing power with state of the art software becoming more readily available. It appears that most small and independent business owners may not understand cloud computing, however they will begin to see superior benefits through cost reduction and efficiency as more and more service providers such as Newtek – "The Small Business Authority" deliver standard business processes and solutions in the cloud. In October of 2012 we will launch eCommerce in the cloud, which will deliver real-time credit and debit card data, as well as real-time web traffic to tablets and smartphones. We will also launch payroll and insurance solutions in the cloud at the end of the fourth quarter or the beginning of first quarter 2013. Stay tuned for further cloud computing products, developments and solutions."