Apple eyeing corporate market
Shift from a time when Steve Jobs insulted business technology buyers
SAN FRANCISCO— In the primordial days of computing, IBM machines were so common inside corporations that there was a running joke in the industry: Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM.
These days, the same could be said about Apple. Even IBM is promoting Apple gear.
Apple’s iPhones and iPads have become the preferred mobile computing devices for corporations, as industries from insurers to airlines aim to ditch bulky PCs and give their employees the ability to do their jobs from anywhere using smartphones or tablets.
For Apple, which is struggling to reverse declining sales of its iPhones and Macs and has seen overall revenues drop for two quarters in a row, the corporate market is a surprising bright spot. Nearly half of all iPads are now bought by corporations and governments, according to the research firm Forrester.
It is a long way from the days when Steve Jobs, Apple’s co-founder, derided corporate technology buyers as “orifices.”
“Apple totally recognizes that their products are being used in a workplace context and not just at home” FRANK GILLETT INDUSTRY ANALYST
Companies are turning to Apple’s products for their tight-knit hardware and software, advanced security features and intuitive interfaces. Aiding Apple’s corporate sales has been a concern that phones and tablets running Google’s Android software have lagged in the security technology and the standardization that companies want.
Apple says it is focused on creating great devices — for all customers. “We’re dedicated to building products that make people’s lives better, often in ways that we couldn’t have even imagined, enabling them to do things that they have never done before,” Susan Prescott, vice president of worldwide product marketing, markets and applications, said in a statement. “Our goal with business customers is the same — to enable them to do something great with mobile and truly modernize and transform their business.”
Apple’s increased attention to business customers has not come without internal angst.
“Apple totally recognizes that their products are being used in a workplace context and not just at home,” Frank Gillett, an industry analyst at Forrester, said. “But they are rabidly focused on making the world better for individual users.”