Companies are now finding that their uptake of new technologies is influenced by consumer trends, it has been suggested.

Gartner analyst David Smith claimed that innovations that succeed in business are now rooted in consumer technology development.

"What people use in business is determined to a high degree by what they are using in their personal life," he told the Financial Times.

"The investments in technology, the investments in marketing, the investments in innovation – these things are happening in consumer marketing."

While mobile phones were first used in business, Mr Smith suggested that the later, more-complicated models have been developed and adopted due to greater technology use by employees at home.

"What is happening is not so much with the gadgets, but what the gadgets are doing. It is the capability that people have found compelling," he said.