AT&T Incorporated, formerly (or so AT&T hopes) known as Cingular, plans to market the iPhone to business users and is now working hard to ensure that its backend enterprise billing and support systems will accommodate the device when it ships. At least, if you believe an anonymous source familiar with the company"s plans. An AT&T spokesman would not confirm such claims.
The idea of marketing the iPhone as an enterprise product baffles some analysts. The iPhone is expected to have a number of shortcomings for business users, said Ken Dulaney, an analyst with Gartner. For example, the phone has multiple processors, which consumes more battery life – and yet it doesn"t have a removable battery. "You"d be crazy to buy without that." It also comes with a touch screen and no buttons, making it difficult for users to dial while driving, he noted. Avi Greengart, principal analyst for mobile devices at Current Analysis, was told by Apple that enterprises won"t be able to write applications for the phone. "Companies like to extend corporate apps to the mobile space and in order to do that you need an open OS." Mobile operating system developers like Windows, Symbian and BlackBerry enable third parties to write applications based on their software. Since the iPhone isn"t available yet, there"s a chance that it could launch with applications that might appeal to business users, but Greengart said he"d be surprised if it did.