PCs have always had a leg up in the corporate world because they were so much cheaper than Macs. Never mind that Macs could open PC formatted documents and write to PC formatted discs, never mind that Macs represented a safer, stabler platform. PCs ruled the day. But now another Apple product is making in-roads to big business.
Bloomberg Businessweek reports that a growing number of businesses are warming up to Apple products, which is likely what was behind Apple putting such an emphasis on enhanced security for the iPhone. As an opening example, the article cites how Wells Fargo took two years to greenlight iPhones for use among the financial giant’s bankers, while the iPad zipped through their security protocols in just weeks. Finance executives and business clients found accessing their Wells Fargo accounts simplicity itself.
Forrester Research’s vice-president and analyst, Ted Schadler, in discussing how the iPad has taken off claims "This iPad thing has taken the [business] world by storm." Even Daimler's Mercedes-Benz is getting in on the act, outfitting sales staff on the showroom floors with iPads to close deals and offer finance options. This follows on the heels of Apple claiming at the end of May that up to 40% of their iPhone sales were to businesses.
For now, Apple leads the mobile market, and Cupertino is clearly hoping their early dominance can take root before more Windows or Android OS based tablets hit the market. Competition is coming in the form of Hewlett-Packard, Dell, LG Electronics, and Samsung Electronic, all of whom are said to be working on some form of tablet computer.
