Concerns about the future viability of Blackberry – once the default choice of mobile device for the enterprise market – have further boosted iPad penetration in businesses, according to an analyst quoted by AllThingsD.
Wedge Partners analyst Brian Blair theorizes that BlackBerry’s ill-starred attempt to sell itself inflamed concerns about the future viability of the company’s platform and gave corporations good reason to migrate their employees to other devices. That opened up a significant opportunity for Apple — particularly since Android continues to struggle for gains in enterprise [...]
Said Blair, “Our recent work points to tremendous momentum for iPad in the enterprise over the last few months and we believe that this may be one of the most important trends for Apple as we move into the New Year.”
Steve Jobs said shortly after the launch of the iPad that Apple didn’t need to market the device to businesses as “it’s being grabbed out of our hands, anyways” …
While Jobs may have considered enterprise-specific marketing unnecessary, Apple subsequently made the business market a specific target, intensifying its marketing with the launch of iOS 7.
Apple already boasts that 94 percent of the Fortune 500 companies are already “testing or deploying” iPads, with independent sources confirming the popularity of the tablet in large and small businesses alike.
Blair believes that the new iPad Air and Retina iPad Mini models, together with the decision to make the iWork software suite free, makes the product all the more compelling. In October, Deutsche Bank’s Chris Whitmore said that he expected the 64-bit A7 chip would help drive enterprise sales (though it should be noted he also expected Touch ID to make it into the new iPads).
Written by: Ben Lovejoy @benlovejoy December 3, 2013/5:42 am - 9to5mac.com
