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Apple may appeal to business users by adding enterprise billing and support systems to the iPhone, an anonymous source “familiar with the company’s plans” told IDG News Service’s Nancy Gohring. Some analysts, however, don’t recommend that businesses issue iPhones to their employees.
Gartner analyst Ken Dulaney said he is reluctant to recommend any vendor’s first mobile phone. “Building a phone is one of the most difficult things to do,” he said, and a vendor’s reputation is unlikely to affect that, according to Dulaney.
He added that the iPhone’s non-removable battery should deter businesses from purchasing the phone. “You’d be crazy to buy without that,” he said, adding that the iPhone’s multiple processors could possibly drain the battery faster than other phones.
For months I’ve claimed that Apple is appealing to a nonbusiness, consumer-entertainment market with the iPhone, while Microsoft’s Steve Balmer and others have criticized the iPhone keyboard’s lack of tactile feedback, making it unfeasible for business users, they said.
This purported iPhone billing and support system could change the rules of the game by challenging Apple’s ability to compete in the business smartphone market in addition to the consumer entertainment market.
2 Comments So Far...
In the interest of making stuff up, I’d guess that there’s a 33% chance that iWork will actually work on the iPhone as well as the Macintosh and that iWork v10.5 will natively read/write the Microsoft Office 2007 XML formats. Of course, one wonders if this means that there will be an Excel equivalent in iWork v10.5?
reinharden
That would definitely make the iPhone more competitive in the business market, reinharden. Thanks for commenting.