Shows you what a little branding and disruptive innovation will do.
Corporate information technology czars and purchasing nabobs are now responding to popular demand. Use of Apple computers in corporate settings is on the rise. The engine of this change may be one of the most diabolically clever strategic reversals since the Greeks left a token of their esteem for the Trojans.
Yes, in addition to its many other virtues, the iPhone, iPad and their progeny have set the standard for design and functionality. As the world becomes more mobile, literally and figuratively, this has given Apple and its products more prominence. And rendered them not just acceptable, but a source of envy - and demand.
Whether Steve Jobs and his colleagues foresaw this eventuality will be hotly debated and another element in the creation of his eternal myth. But the facts on the ground are that product is moving and corporations are buying. JL
Kate Linebaugh reports in the Wall Street Journal:
General Electric Co. would seem to be the last place that Apple Inc. laptops and desktops would appear in workers' offices, but the technology is slowly seeping into daily life at the 120-year-old conglomerate.
Under a year-old pilot project, GE employees can choose Apple's Mac notebooks or Mac desktops instead of a Windows PC. It now has about 1,000 Mac users and expects their ranks to expand further as more employees become aware of the program. It is just a toehold: GE has about 330,000 computers, most running Windows-based software on PC hardware.
Apple has been working to get its products before corporate customers, relying mainly on the pull from employees who ask their employers to support the devices they use at home. A spokesman said the company is "excited" the Mac is helping businesses recruit.
Apple has very little of the corporate computer market but is making progress, according to market researcher Forrester Research, which estimates the Cupertino, Calif., company will sell $9 billion worth of Macs and $10 billion worth of iPads to businesses this year, up about 50% from last year.
In comparison, corporate spending on PCs and tablets not made by Apple will decline 3% this year to $69 billion, the firm projects.
Expanding its presence at a large customer like GE would give a boost to Apple and could put pressure on the conglomerate's incumbent PC suppliers including Dell Inc. and Lenovo Group Ltd. The development echoes Apple's initial effort in smartphones that later became a real threat to companies like BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd.
GE started offering its employees the iPhone as an alternative to BlackBerrys in 2008. Now, it says about 10,000 GE employees carry the Apple smartphone, compared with 50,000 using BlackBerrys.
The Fairfield, Conn., conglomerate hasn't trumpeted the Apple option for computers and laptops internally, and as a result employee awareness is limited.
But staffers across GE businesses are eligible as long as there aren't security clearance issues, such as devices for defense work, or big compatibility problems with needed software.
"All businesses are participating at some level in making this [option] available to their employees," said Greg Simpson, GE's chief technology officer.
"To find out that we support Apple, we support iPhones, we support Macs, it does take away one question for people, 'Are they a contemporary company or not?'" Mr. Simpson said. "I think that is a recruiting-positive thing."
Apple is now the No. 3 U.S. personal computer vendor, with about 11% of the market, compared with about 23% for market-leader Hewlett Packard Co., according to Gartner and IDC.
Apple was the only one of the top five U.S. computer sellers to expand sales in the fourth quarter. Apple's corporate share is much smaller, at less than 1%, while H-P, Dell and Lenovo have about 25% apiece.
Dell declined to comment but pointed to its ranking. Lenovo didn't comment, but has launched an expensive marketing campaign to build its brand among consumers.
H-P said it is aware that Apple is making inroads into the business market and is working to make its own notebooks thinner, lighter, smaller and sleeker.
"We'll get the best of both worlds and provide a product that wins in that space," said Carol Hess, H-P's head of commercial PC. "We do focus on the corporate and enterprise customer, and I am not so sure that is the target market for an Apple-type of product."
Cost and compatibility with existing systems continues to hold Apple back at companies, said Rich Adduci, chief information officer at Boston Scientific Corp. "The reality is they make a terrific product, but there are some compatibility challenges with our corporate computing infrastructure," Mr. Adduci said.
That isn't the case for the iPad. The medical device maker worked with Apple the day after the iPad was released to use the device for sales and has rolled out about 4,500 globally.
By the end of the year, Boston Scientific expects to be able to begin shifting entirely to the iPad. "Technically, we will be able to support everything on an iPad," he said.
GE says discounts on its PC purchases have grown less generous. Mr. Simpson points out the price gap has narrowed for more advanced machines on both sides of the divide, with the Macbook Air starting at $999 and competing ultra-light laptops running $899 to $1,400.
At this month's annual leadership meeting in Boca Raton, Fl., each of GE's top 600 officers came armed with an iPad.
"There is a learning curve, and we recognize that it may not work perfectly yet," Mr. Simpson said of the Apple computer project. "I think it will continue to grow on [employee] demand."
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