AT&T plans to market the iPhone to business users in addition to consumers but analysts aren't recommending that enterprises supply workers with Apple’s new handset.
Cingular, which was acquired by AT&T, recently decided that Apple’s iPhone will appeal to business users and the operator is now working hard to ensure that its backend 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.
An AT&T spokesman said he couldn't comment on the iPhone beyond when it will become available and its price. The phone is expected to become available in the US in June, while plans for a European iPhone release are under way.
Initially, AT&T will be the exclusive provider of the iPhone - which will cost $499 or $599 in the US depending on the memory size - although other service providers are expected to eventually start selling it as well.
The idea of marketing the iPhone as an enterprise product baffles some analysts as most of handset's features are targeted specifically at consumers (see our hands-on iPhone review).
If AT&T announces that it will be marketing the Apple’s handset to enterprise customers, "we'd be against it”, said Ken Dulaney, an analyst with Gartner, who said he hasn't heard of such a plan from the operator. "We'd immediately tell our customers that'd be a very serious mistake."
No matter what kind of reputation a vendor has, if it's making its first phone, Dulaney would be unlikely to recommend it. "Building a phone is one of the most difficult things to do," he said.
Also, the iPhone is expected to have a number of shortcomings for business users, he said. For example, it doesn't have a removable battery. "You'd be crazy to buy without that," Dulaney said. Apple’s handset has multiple processors, which consumes more battery life than single processors, he said.
It also comes with a touchscreen and no buttons, making it difficult for users to dial while driving, he noted.
He suspects that enterprises will likely decide against the iPhone for similar reasons that many decide not to standardise on Mac computers. Even if the iPhone is attractive, like the Mac, they'll choose BlackBerry or Windows Mobile devices because those have more software application options, he said.
That's one reason that Avi Greengart, principal analyst for mobile devices at Current Analysis, also thinks the iPhone won't be a good option for enterprise customers. Apple has said that the iPhone will run on an OS X-based operating system and told Greengart that businesses won't be able to write applications for the phone, he said. "Companies like to extend corporate apps to the mobile space and in order to do that you need an open OS," he said. Mobile operating system developers like Windows, Symbian and BlackBerry enable third parties to write applications based on their software.
Since the iPhone isn't available yet, there's a chance that it could launch with applications that might appeal to business users, such as support for corporate email, but Greengart said he'd be surprised if it did.
Without such corporate applications, enterprises would be buying their employees a device with plenty of storage for their digital music collections. "Could a company deploy this? They could but they'd be paying for storage and for something intended for use as a consumer device," Greengart said.
Comments
Nepcker said: A complete idiot I think this analyst is
PeterPeter said: Without such corporate applications enterprises would be buying their employees a device with plenty of storage for their digital music collectionsOh really Is that why so many companies are buying iPods for their employees For their music collections Could a company deploy thisIt would seem so because it seems they already have
Hairy R. said: It also comes with a touchscreen and no buttons making it difficult for users to dial while driving he notedOne would hope that dialing while driving would be avoided regardless of the kind of phone Its scary enough to see people dedicating one hand to phone activities while driving let alone dialing a phonePoor reasoning on the analysts part Wow - could I get a high-paying job making stupid statements I know I could meet those qualifications
anobserver said: Those quoted in this journalism seem pretty desparate to scare away iphone customers The real fear must be with those interests who want iphone to fail but they are grasping at straws here
Responsible Driver said: It also comes with a touchscreen and no buttons making it difficult for users to dial while driving he notedIm definitely not going to give any credence to opinions from a guy so idiotic that he thinks engaging in this sort of dangerous behavior is essential to his purchase of a phone Besides being a stupid thing to do its increasingly illegal He even lives in CA which just passed a law banning holding a phone while driving Morons like this make me sad
Andy Crossett said: Obviously the authors of this expect third party apps to be installed on the iphoneThis is short sighted Think web apps instead delivered direct to safari think vpn access Then it doesnt matter if the iphone is closedMany devices will benefit from this including win mobile nokia internet tablet and future linux phones from moto palm and othersthis could be a great corporate device
CM said: Clueless idiotThis person has absolutely no clue how people are using their mobile phones
Eytan said: AFAIK there are plenty of third party emergency battery options for iPods and cell phones the Energi To Go from Energizer comes to mind as well as generic USB chargers and iPod power extenders Since the iPhone will use a standard Dock connector I really think the power issue will be a non-issueAs for corporate connectivity - if ATampT is serious I am sure they will develop with the help of Apple enterprise email connectivity software I am sure that if they want it for business there will be very few issues to surmount
SteveJobs said: What a pointless article but hey - mentioning the iPhone must have gotten you tons of page hitsMaking a phone is hard OK So what Like Apple has never made a product thats hard to make before Does anyone remember what MP3 players looked like before the iPod came out And lets see the iPod doesnt have a removable battery either and that hasnt stopped it selling Do these analysts tell their clients not to buy Bluetooth headsets Most of those dont have removable batteries these daysAnd while were on the subject of headsets lots of current phones can dial using spoken commands via the headset - does anyone think the iPhone might have features like that too Hands free dialing while the phone is still in your pocket Wow
Waiting ForiPhone said: It also comes with a touchscreen and no buttons making it difficult for users to dial while drivingso uh Apple should be punished for making it difficult for users to do something DANGEROUS and ILLEGALHow does one become an analyst by spouting such tosh
marcos said: The categorical negative before the damn thing is even out tells me these guys are your typical MS shills Somehow these guys make a living from being the guy to call if youre a journalist looking for a quote Yet lazy journalists rarely get a quote from Dave Logsdon the University of Minnesota Apple expertAnyway you see this all the time with Anti-Linux propaganda And when you do a little digging the analyst invariably has some sort of friendship with MSThe iPhone might totally suck for business But lets wait until the product actually launches shall we Lets let the geek community play with it for a week before we decide its not open AppleTV isnt supposed to be open yet it is
jbelkin said: Both these guys seem to be pretty ill-informed and are mad that Apple wont give them a phone to preview or something - pretty arrogant of the Gartner guy When I speak millions of companies will listen if I said no its no Um yea He base his whole thing on two things a non removable battery - holy crap - other than when a phone goes seriously bad - who removes a phone to reset it - is that his whole basis of rejecting the iphone it cant be reset His other is that phones are hard - is that why we have phones from Mattel Yea real hard to go to factory that assembles cell phones to have them make another one Does this guy even read his won ramblings