Apple growing partnership with SAP, machine learning & CoreML at center of new program

Apple and SAP have grown their partnership, and are further teaming to assist clients develop iPhone, iPad, and Mac apps, with machine learning as a focus.

The new partnership is a wider one, expanding into procurement and other aspects of SAP's business. The launch will include nine applications, with expansions planned.

"It's come a long way and it has a lot further to go," Apple CEO Tim Cook said of the partnership and products developed by the pair. "That is what all of us in total are trying to realize in our companies. And I think we are at the front end of that."

Apple and SAP have had close ties for years. In 2016 the corporations partnered on an SDK, training, and other projects, eventually launching the Cloud Platform SDK for iOS in March 2017. The deal has helped to wedge iOS further into the enterprise market.

Apple largely ignored that market at the launch of the iPhone, content to focus on consumer sales. That changed in 2014 when it revealed a partnership with IBM geared toward creating iOS apps for other businesses. Since then Apple has forged deals with the likes of Salesforce and Hewlett Packard Enterprise.

Apple's CoreML at the center of the Apple and SAP extension announced on Tuesday launched with iOS 11 in September 2017.