“Apple Inc. is embarking on its most aggressive expansion yet onto corporate turf, hiring a dedicated sales force to talk with potential clients like Citigroup Inc. and working in concert with a dozen or so developers, two sources familiar with its plans say,” Christina Farr and Bill Rigby report for Reuters. “Experts say the company hopes to offset a gradual deceleration in growth – highlighted by iPad sales that have declined three straight quarters – by expanding its footprint in the workplace.”
“Three months after unveiling a partnership with IBM to develop apps for corporate clients and sell them on devices, the iPhone maker’s plans to challenge sector leaders Hewlett-Packard, Dell Inc, Oracle and SAP are starting to take shape,” Farr and Rigby report. “Details remain scant, but some industry experts say that the tie-up with Big Blue gives Apple an opportunity to begin to challenge Hewlett Packard’s and Dell’s dominance of office IT, and Oracle and SAP’s command of work applications.”
“Apple has been sending dedicated sales teams to talk to chief information officers. At least one financial services corporation, Citigroup, has been in talks to sign on, one of the two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters,” Farr and Rigby report. “Another person familiar with the developer’s plans told Reuters that ServiceMax, whose existing customers include Procter & Gamble and DuPont, has co-hosted eight dinners with Apple over the past year in locations across the United States. About 25 or 30 chief information officers and “chief service officers” typically show up at these joint marketing and sales events.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Fred Mertz” and “Dan K.” for the heads up.]
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