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Thanks to the success of the iPhone and the iPad, Apple is attracting more corporate IT buyers
ByPeter Burrows andAdam Satariano
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Susan Maus, an online marketing consultant, arrived at the rendezvous point at 8:30 a.m. on Oct. 13. Maus and a few other guests were escorted across the empty sales floor of the Apple Store in Minneapolis, down a hallway, up an unmarked elevator, and into a conference room. For 90 minutes, Apple (AAPL) reps talked with Maus and a dozen other consultants and shop owners about how the company's products could improve their businesses. The attendees played with iPads to check out various business apps, including one that lets users run a presentation on a big plasma screen. "It was pretty slick," says Maus. "They're really reaching out to businesses now."
Why so hush-hush? Because selling to Corporate America isn't the vibe Apple is going for. Apple makes consumer products, and Steve Jobs has long said that no company can focus on consumers and corporate customers at the same time. He should know: Jobs has had bad luck attempting to cater to business in the past—the Lisa PC in the early 1980s flopped, as did his NeXT computer in the early 1990s. Apple declined to comment for this story.
With so many businesspeople lusting after Apple products—count the iPads at your next meeting—the company can grab a share of IT budgets without having to make unsexy back-office gear. Last month Apple discontinued its only such product, the heavy-duty Xserver line of servers. "Apple is getting pulled into a lot of opportunities because of the popularity of the iPhone and iPad," says Piper Jaffray (PJC) analyst Gene Munster.
Some IT executives are receiving their first-ever sales calls from Apple. Darren Augi, IT vice-president for Dimension Data, a South Africa-based systems integrator, was contacted by Apple salespeople in April, when the iPad was introduced. "We'd never heard from Apple," says Augi, even though about 10 percent of Dimension's 11,000 U.S. employees use iPhones.
So far, Apple has opened just five briefing rooms, including the one in Minneapolis, for chats with potential business customers. (Others are in London, Paris, Shanghai, and Philadelphia.) Apple's total corporate sales staff numbers around 200, according to Munster. That's tiny next to the tens of thousands employed by IBM (IBM), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), and Dell (DELL). When Apple does approach companies, it does so on its own terms. Augi says he was hoping Apple would offer assistance in recrafting Dimension's IT department around Apple products. All the salesman had in mind was a simple purchasing account to save Augi's staff the trouble of schlepping to the nearest Apple Store. "It was a very low-pressure, relaxed sales pitch," Augi says. "They're going after the low-hanging fruit."
When it comes to mobile sales, of course, Apple gets a big assist from its telecom partners. Hundreds of AT&T's (T) 8,000 salespeople specialize in helping companies find new ways of using mobile devices, says Abhi Ingle, a sales vice-president at the carrier. Ingle says much of the interest from business is about the iPad. Auto dealers are buying them for salespeople, and doctors are using them in hospitals. With no other hit tablet on the market, Ingle says, "Apple is definitely gaining 'mind share.' Who used Apple products in the past inside companies? It was very niche."
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ByPeter Burrows andAdam Satariano
Browse Issues
Browse the BusinessWeek Archive
Susan Maus, an online marketing consultant, arrived at the rendezvous point at 8:30 a.m. on Oct. 13. Maus and a few other guests were escorted across the empty sales floor of the Apple Store in Minneapolis, down a hallway, up an unmarked elevator, and into a conference room. For 90 minutes, Apple (AAPL) reps talked with Maus and a dozen other consultants and shop owners about how the company's products could improve their businesses. The attendees played with iPads to check out various business apps, including one that lets users run a presentation on a big plasma screen. "It was pretty slick," says Maus. "They're really reaching out to businesses now."
Why so hush-hush? Because selling to Corporate America isn't the vibe Apple is going for. Apple makes consumer products, and Steve Jobs has long said that no company can focus on consumers and corporate customers at the same time. He should know: Jobs has had bad luck attempting to cater to business in the past—the Lisa PC in the early 1980s flopped, as did his NeXT computer in the early 1990s. Apple declined to comment for this story.
With so many businesspeople lusting after Apple products—count the iPads at your next meeting—the company can grab a share of IT budgets without having to make unsexy back-office gear. Last month Apple discontinued its only such product, the heavy-duty Xserver line of servers. "Apple is getting pulled into a lot of opportunities because of the popularity of the iPhone and iPad," says Piper Jaffray (PJC) analyst Gene Munster.
Some IT executives are receiving their first-ever sales calls from Apple. Darren Augi, IT vice-president for Dimension Data, a South Africa-based systems integrator, was contacted by Apple salespeople in April, when the iPad was introduced. "We'd never heard from Apple," says Augi, even though about 10 percent of Dimension's 11,000 U.S. employees use iPhones.
So far, Apple has opened just five briefing rooms, including the one in Minneapolis, for chats with potential business customers. (Others are in London, Paris, Shanghai, and Philadelphia.) Apple's total corporate sales staff numbers around 200, according to Munster. That's tiny next to the tens of thousands employed by IBM (IBM), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), and Dell (DELL). When Apple does approach companies, it does so on its own terms. Augi says he was hoping Apple would offer assistance in recrafting Dimension's IT department around Apple products. All the salesman had in mind was a simple purchasing account to save Augi's staff the trouble of schlepping to the nearest Apple Store. "It was a very low-pressure, relaxed sales pitch," Augi says. "They're going after the low-hanging fruit."
When it comes to mobile sales, of course, Apple gets a big assist from its telecom partners. Hundreds of AT&T's (T) 8,000 salespeople specialize in helping companies find new ways of using mobile devices, says Abhi Ingle, a sales vice-president at the carrier. Ingle says much of the interest from business is about the iPad. Auto dealers are buying them for salespeople, and doctors are using them in hospitals. With no other hit tablet on the market, Ingle says, "Apple is definitely gaining 'mind share.' Who used Apple products in the past inside companies? It was very niche."
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