Apple has made inroads into the professional market with the iPhone—the company has noted that some Fortune 500 companies have deployed them alongside or even replacing BlackBerrys. Despite this, analysis of app usage suggests that it remains a mostly personal device.

Mobile analytic firm Localytics examined logs of use of third-party apps and found that app use during the week typically begins to ramp up around 5am and slowly increases to a peak around 9pm. Weekdays also tend to have a little bump in use right around lunch time.

On weekends, however, use starts picking up around 6am, reaching a steady peak around noon until 11pm. App usage sharply ramps down after 11, but slightly slower than it does on a typical week day.

This usage pattern is typical for a device that is used for personal rather than business reasons. However, it's also possible that business users are either sticking to Apple's supplied apps or are using custom-developed in-house apps for specific business needs. For instance, a business user is more likely to fire up Mail or Calendar than, say, Tweetie or Plants vs Zombies during the work day. Localytics notes that it expects to find similar usage patterns for the iPad, and that developers may want to consider these patterns when designing apps for either platform.

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