September 15, 2009 Entry 9

Media, Marketers, Madison Ave Just Mad for Apple IPhone

Corporate Shift From RIM Explains Why There's an App for That

by Rita Chang 
Published: August 24, 2009

       

SAN FRANCISCO (AdAge.com) -- If you've wondered why the marketing world is obsessed with creating apps for the iPhone, take a stroll down the hallways of Kraft Foods, Gannett and German publisher Axel Springer.

There you'll see a sea of iPhones as the brand makes incursions on RIM's BlackBerry, once acknowledged as the smartphone of choice for corporate America. In a recent conference call, Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook said about 20% of Fortune 100 companies have purchased a total of 10,000 or more iPhones since the handset's release in 2007, and scores of government agencies and businesses have each purchased more than 25,000 iPhones for their organizations.

Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook

In many ways, the iconic iPhone is sneaking through the marketers' corporate back door: Consumers fall for it and decide they want to use it as their business phone, too. The handset's popularity among corporate smartphone users and its support of the Microsoft Exchange mail server and other enterprise requirements have forced more and more IT departments to support them, landing the iPhone on the list of company-sanctioned phones.

See Full Article Here:http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=138602