AppleInsider StaffAT&T, the wireless carrier which recently consumed Cingular, is reportedly undergoing preparations to market Apple Inc.'s upcoming iPhone device to business customers in addition to average consumers.
Analysts, however, aren't seeing eye-to-eye on the move. They're calling it a big mistake."
If AT&T announces plans to market the phone to enterprise customers, "we'd be against it," said Ken Dulaney, an analyst with Gartner. "We'd immediately tell our customers that'd be a very serious mistake.
Dulaney argues that regardless of who the handset maker is, if it's their initial foray into mobile phone development, business customers should stand clear. "Building a phone is one of the most difficult things to do," he said.
Business customers should also be weary of the iPhone's various other shortcomings, the Gartner analyst said. For instance, he notes that it lacks a physical keyboard, which will make it difficult to dial while driving. The device also runs a closed version of the Mac OS X operating system, meaning enterprises won't be able to extend their corporate applications to the device.
Furthermore, Dulaney said, iPhone does not include a user-replacable battery.
"You'd be crazy to buy without that," he said.
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For instance, he notes that it lacks a physical keyboard, which will make it difficult to dial while driving.
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Errrrr, not sure about States, but in Europe you would get a super-fine if dialing when driving. At least in some European countries .
now att is once again as big, if not bigger, than it was before the break-up back in the 80's....
as the gobbled up cingular, apple is now dealing with the beheamoth of the telco industry, att. they bad news is that this company has a long list of failures whenever it ventured outside of its core business. anybody remember the B2 line of computers? a huge failure. att branded home phone equipment? not even made by att (vtech and others). apple does not realize they are now dealing with the most 'think inside the box' group of managers there is.
now att says they will market the iphone to business customers... instant proof that the top brass are a bunch of boneheads! sure, businesses will scramble to buy an overpriced phone with poor battery performance and unknown issues... steve, you will regret the day you decided to work with this outfit.
now att is once again as big, if not bigger, than it was before the break-up back in the 80's....
Possibly, but the key is that they're not the only telco any more... I'd bet that Apple has escape clauses written into their contract with ATT that allow them to move to T-mobile if ATT's sales aren't up to Apple's liking.
As for the actual issue at hand, business users would have the cash and flexibility to buy the iPhone, so marketing to these people just makes sense. Also, the feature set of the iPhone seems more geared towards business users who need the flexibility of things such as visual voice mail and email. Oh, and as Blackberry has proven, never underestimate the irrationality of a business user to want the coolest and hippest phone on the market.
AT&T is just a brand name now. SBC which owns Cingular bought the floundering remnant of the old AT&T then changed its name to AT&T figuring that most people we bill fooled into thinking they're now Ma Bell. If you want to examine the history of today's AT&T, you have to look at SBC's history not the 80's post-breakup AT&T.
How many people actually take the battery out of their phones ? Really ? I've never done this. Ever. Except to remove the SIM card that's underneath.