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.