Neil Hughes
Apple can now count the Ford Motor Co. among those who are embracing its iOS platform, as the automaker has revealed it will equip more than 9,000 workers with iPhones over the next two years.
A spokeswoman for the company told Bloomberg that Ford will replace 3,300 workers' BlackBerry phones with iPhones by the end of this year. And over the next two years, 6,000 employees will see their "feature" flip phones upgraded to Apple's best selling handset as well.
Ford representative Sara Tatchio said the company plans to get "everyone on iPhones," citing advantages in security and simplicity.
"It meets the overall needs of the employees because it is able to serve both our business needs and a secure way and the needs we have in our personal lives with a single device," she said.
Ford's announcement comes on the heels of a new partnership between Apple and IBM, in which Big Blue will provide customized services, support and applications for Apple's iPhone and iPad. Apple is hoping the partnership will allow it to capture an even greater share of the enterprise market.
Apple routinely touts the fact that almost all Fortune 500 companies are testing or deploying iOS devices. But the company also recently revealed that penetration rates among employees in those companies are extremely low.
As of 2013, Ford had about 181,000 total employees, so the more than 9,000 iPhones the company plans to distribute won't put a huge dent in its workforce. But it is another high-profile example of Apple capturing on the decline of former enterprise king BlackBerry.
Those losses are also occurring in the public sector, as the U.S. Air Force announced earlier this year that it would deploy 5,000 Apple iOS devices to replace BlackBerry devices. The Air Force is planning the eventual retirement of all BlackBerry products carried by USAF personnel.
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68 Comments
blackberry stock surges... /jk
Look forward to seeing where they use iBeacons to automatically disable phone cameras for sensitive areas of buildings, enforced by policy. Better than the current "put this sticker over the lens".
But but but Steve Ballmer said it has no keyboard so how are they gonna do email on the iPhone???
RIM’s down $3.95 today. Hopefully they’ll stay down.
Look forward to seeing where they use iBeacons to automatically disable phone cameras for sensitive areas of buildings, enforced by policy. Better than the current "put this sticker over the lens".
Our current policy is "you must leave such devices out of those areas". I dare say that that policy would remain in place even if iBeacons make it possible to automatically disable cameras. The sensitive places I work in just don't want these sophisticated devices (especially those with transmitters) anywhere within the confines. There's just too many ways that automatic disabling could be bypassed. Best to just not allow the devices in.