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AT&T to market iPhone to biz customers
AT&T plans to market the iPhone to business users in addition to consumers, according to an InfoWorld article. The publication reports: “Cingular, which acquired AT&T Wireless, recently decided that the iPhone will appeal to business users and the operator is now working hard to ensure that its back-end enterprise billing and support systems will accommodate the device when it ships, said a source familiar with the company’s plans, who spoke on condition of anonymity.”
Unsurprisingly, Microsoft has been on a FUD campaign since the iPhone’s introduction, saying the device will not work for business users. Chris Sorenson, Microsoft’s head of smartphone strategy for the Asia-Pacific region, recently said the iPhone will be irrelevant to those users because of its “closed” operating system and lack of Office support. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer also dismissed the iPhone. “It doesn’t appeal to business customers because it doesn’t have a keyboard which makes it not a very good email machine,” he said in January.
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1
Microsoft CEO must be a synonym for “##### from another planet.”
It doesn’t have a keyboard? Is that some kind of joke?
Posted by chad_l on April 24, 2007 at 7:06 AM (PDT)
2
It’s almost like you are watching one of those Mac + PC commercials.
Posted by Eric on April 24, 2007 at 7:24 AM (PDT)
3
Interesting that the very thing the iPhone is becoming famed for, the on screen keyboard, is the thing that the naysayers say doesn’t exist. They have the reasoning logic of a liberal!
Posted by Aaron on April 24, 2007 at 8:46 AM (PDT)
4
They can try to market it for business, but I doubt it’ll see much penetration. If it doesn’t have push Exchange e-mail like Blackberry or latest Windows Mobile, it won’t be compatible (for push at least) with the majority of corporate email servers. Also it’s quite expensive for a phone that does e-mail and it has perhaps too many non-productivity features (widescreen video iPod).
Posted by dodo on April 24, 2007 at 8:53 AM (PDT)
5
I think the iphone is going to be another huge success… i’m getting one the first week they’re out. I do agree that they won’t be great for business though. The battery isn’t removable and this thing is going to need a lot of juice. When you’re on the road and on the phone all day its way more convenient to swap in a fresh batter than charge your dead phone.
There’s no keyboard with plastic buttons. To use the touchscreen keyboard, you actually have to be looking at it while typing. A lot of blackberry users can type on those things now by feel only… without looking. Handy for when you’re driving.
No removable memory and a closed OS are other factors.
The difference between apple taking over the phone biz versus how they took over portable media with the ipod is that the cell phone market is far more established than the mp3 player market was in 2001. hte iphone lacks some features that cell phone users are accustomed to.
that being said, i’m not a business guy and i’m getting one.
Posted by nickname on April 24, 2007 at 9:55 AM (PDT)
6
Nickname: The closed OS won’t be a factor for business customers. The BlackBerry is a closed OS and it’s the best currently for biz customers. Having said that I agree with everything else you said.
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I think the iPhone will be okay with “some” business customers. People who do light email, and web browsing. Push email seems like it’s only coming from Yahoo (though I could see this expanding to .mac users at some point), which is a problem. With a BlackBerry I can get my corporate email from an Exchange server pushed to me, plus my .mac personal email pushed to me as well.
Having said that I do think some business customers will get into the device, and love it. Mainly ones that don’t already use a BlackBerry or Pocket PC.
Posted by Jeffery Simpson on April 24, 2007 at 10:54 AM (PDT)