iPhone Mixes Business with Pleasure, Giving the BlackBerry Some Competition
BlackBerry mobile devices have always been the standard for business phones. With the release of the iPhone 4, BlackBerrys have faced some major competition. Business users are slowly transitioning to the infamous Apple iPhone as their primary choice for business mobile devices.
iPhones have always represented the primary entertainment product, but now with enhanced security, an increase in business applications, and multitasking capabilities the iPhone is becoming a solid option for business users. The numbers support this claim, as BlackBerry sales have started to decrease, presumably because of the anticipated release of the iPhone 4. Their sales from last quarter were lower than Research in Motion expected, at $11.2 million instead of $11.8 million. Also, according to Forrester Research, 29% of IT departments now support the iPhone as opposed to 17% last year. While the BlackBerry is still the most popular mobile device in business settings, this may not be the case next year.
iPhone vs. BlackBerry
Business users’ priorities are also starting to change with the major developments in the smartphone world. In addition to handling professional matters on their phones, while on business trips, users are most interested in adjusting travel plans, making reservations, checking into hotels, and tweeting about travel, according to a recent Omni Hotels survey. Users are also interested in staying in contact with friends and family and dealing with personal matters, such as checking Facebook or the score of a sports game. The ability to do all of the above on a smartphone is equally as important as being able to do business on it. The iPhone is better known for its entertainment capabilities, which is why business users are starting to turn to the iPhone now.
Omni Hotels Survey Results
The iPhone also offers a range of business applications. Salesforce.com has a popular iPhone application, which has over 500,000 mobile users. Their number of iPhone users outnumbers BlackBerry users three-to-one. A recent iPhone application that was just accepted into the App Store is the SharePlus Office Mobile Client, which will be very useful for business mobile users. There are many other business iPhone applications, including a language translator, Stock Watch, and Oracle Business indicator application.
This change in business users’ priorities and the major increase in mobile and business capabilities that the iPhone has to offer are some of many reasons that the iPhone is a major competitor of the BlackBerry, in the business arena. The iPhone mixes business with pleasure, making it more appealing than the BlackBerry.
[Photo courtesy of paragonaccountingandtax.]
