Could Apple finally squash Blackberry? Deal with IBM to to develop apps and sell iPads and iPhones to business users revealed

  • Pair will sell iPhones and iPads loaded with specially developed IBM applications
  • Will release more than 100 apps aimed at everything from healthcare to banking
  • Could have major impact on Microsoft and Blackberry

By Mark Prigg

Published: 18:24 EST, 15 July 2014 | Updated: 22:13 EST, 15 July 2014

IBM, and Apple are to join forces in a bid to get more iPhones and iPads into major firms.

The firms announced an unpredecented project to release more than 100 apps aimed at everything from healthcare to banking.

They will also join forces to try and sell iPads and iPhones to business users.

The partnership, which was six months in the making, will offer services geared at security, mobile device management and big data and analytics. The company also plans to develop cloud services optimized for Apple's mobile operating system, iOS.

The partnership, which was six months in the making, will offer services geared at security, mobile device management and big data and analytics. The company also plans to develop cloud services optimized for Apple's mobile operating system, iOS.

WHAT IT MEANS

The two firms will release more than 100 apps targeting industry specific issues in retail, healthcare, banking, travel, transportation and telecommunications.

Until now Apple's expansion has been driven by employees bringing in their own devices and requesting corporate support, the so-called bring-your-own-IT trend.

Partnering with IBM could help address lingering concerns about smartphone software security and data privacy, and help the pair wrestle business away from firms like Blackberry.

The announcement, just two days before IBM releases its second quarter earnings, comes as the company attempts to shift its focus to software and services as its hardware unit continues to slump, and follows a string of mobile software acquisitions.

 

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The company hopes software sales will contribute half of its total profit by 2015.

The company will release more than 100 apps targeting industry specific issues in retail, healthcare, banking, travel, transportation and telecommunications IBM said on Tuesday.

'We wanted to focus on creating an absolutely irresistible workflow and processes and a design of apps that can be used by every user in the organization,' Bridget van Kralingen, IBM's senior vice president of global business services told Reuters from Apple headquarters in Cupertino, California.

'We wanted to remove some of the existing barriers of mobile in enterprise,' she said adding that chief information officers worry about security, utilizing cloud and installing apps in mobile devices.

The partnership, which was six months in the making, will offer services geared at security, mobile device management and big data and analytics.

The company also plans to develop cloud services optimized for Apple's mobile operating system, iOS.

The devices will operate through wireless carriers chosen by the client, she said.

BlackBerry Ltd shares were down 3 percent following the announcement.

The Canadian smartphone maker has increasingly targeted its secure software at businesses as part of an effort to turn the company around after losing ground to Apple's iPhone and Samsung Electronics Co.

Tim Cook, Apple CEO and Ginni Rometty, IBM CEO today announced a global partnership to get iPads and iPhones into offices

Tim Cook, Apple CEO and Ginni Rometty, IBM CEO today announced a global partnership to get iPads and iPhones into offices

Apple and Samsung have steadily expanded their share of the mobile enterprise market in recent years, mostly at Blackberry’s expense, while Microsoft Windows phones have made little headway.

Increasingly, Apple's expansion has been driven by employees bringing in their own devices and requesting corporate support, the so-called bring-your-own-IT trend.

Hooking up with IBM may help address lingering concerns about smartphone software security and data privacy, in the form of a veteran partner that’s led in enterprise IT for decades.

'This deal is a very targeted attempt by Apple with the help from IBM to focus on the enterprise, corporate market which has really been the main business of Blackberry,' said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer at Solaris Group in Bedford Hills, New York.

IBM shares were up 1.9 percent and Apple shares rose 1.3 percent after the bell following the announcement.

The apps will be supported through AppleCare, Apple's hardware warranty and customer service.

Comments (11)

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Blackberry squashed themselves ages ago

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"wrestle business away from firms like Blackberry." Have you actually been following the news? What Blackberry?

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Apple is only a fashion statement, not a serious choice.

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I think it more likely that I will see apple crumble with blackberry. : )

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I think it more likely that I will see apple crumble with blackberry. : )

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I think it more likely that I will see apple crumble with blackberry. : )

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Blackberry rise and fall is only due or themselves -

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No need for apple to quash blackberry. Blackberry has already done it to themselves.

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Squash Blackberry? I've got news - its already squashed. Blackberry missed the boat around 2004 and they havn't recovered. Blackberry will be bankrupt or sold within 2 years.

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Thank god! the other day a job agency denied me the use of my apple email to send me information. The CEO of Apple should be aware of this and that this is more common in organizations than you think. I worked in a place where they don't allow people at work to use Apple computers, only Research people do, because their money are granted by the NIH and they won't put up with this nonsense, plus they need the imagine effects of them, and some of my emails do not go through some people too. I think this is a dirty competition, specially because Windows is an NSA creation and not protected.. Microsoft computers, people don't realize because they are so accustomed to them but they are far behind to Apple. One needs to do 10 steps in what in Apple only one needs to do ONE step. That's it. .Only one step!

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Disagree. Windows Server-based networks are far more advanced in Domain security and manageability than their Apple counterparts. The Apple pc itself is made up of exactly the same components as a Windows pc, only twice as expensive. For everyday business use Windows trumps Apple, and if you had any real world experience of IT management, you would know this.

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