【英语科技】iPhone大举进军公务手机市场

Consumers around the globe will wait on long lines Thursday to get their hands on the newest iPhone, but far from the sidewalk frenzy, Apple Inc.'s (AAPL) smartphone is making inroads with business customers.

Companies like Bausch & Lomb Inc. (BOL) are buying iPhones for their employees, in some cases replacing BlackBerry devices. Earlier this year, the eye-care products company made iPhone the standard issue device for its sales force. Now, about 1,200 salespeople have one.

Research In Motion Ltd.'s (RIMM) BlackBerry has long been the standard-issue smartphone for businesses, largely because RIM made it easy for corporate technology departments to manage and secure its devices. Information-technology professionals dismissed the iPhone as a toy, and many banned it from their companies outright.

But while BlackBerrys are still the most popular corporate device, with 70% of IT departments currently supporting the gadget, about 29% of businesses now support the iPhone, up from 17% last year and none in 2007 when the iPhone first launched, according to Forrester Research.

One catalyst is that employees are clamoring for iPhones, even if they have to pay for all or part of it themselves. AT&T Inc. (T) CEO Randall Stephenson said in an interview last week that about 40% of its iPhones are sold to companies or individuals with corporate discounts.

AT&T said its salespeople aren't pushing the iPhone above the BlackBerry or other devices, but the carrier has taken steps to make the iPhone attractive to companies, including providing tools to build iPhone apps for homegrown software.

Bausch & Lomb adopted the iPhone because of the device's ability to access spreadsheets and contact-management software, although getting locked into AT&T's network in the U.S. was a negative, said Simon Woods, vice president for technology and applications.

Apple said in January that 70% of Fortune 100 companies were testing or deploying iPhones. While Apple's marketing remains focused on consumers, Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook said in January the company has added 'sales staff to assist the carrier staff in selling the iPhone in several of the major geographies.' Apple declined to comment further.

Microstrategy Inc. (MSTR), which makes business-intelligence software, plans to deploy more iPhones to employees and only replace BlackBerrys when they break. The company has 1,000 BlackBerrys and 400 iPhones, including 200 purchased by employees.

Asked whether it was concerned by the encroachment of other devices like the iPhone in businesses, RIM Vice President Tyler Lessard said, 'We see other vendors coming in there but we keep expanding too.' He added that RIM, which reports quarterly earnings Thursday, was also rapidly growing its consumer business.

The iPhone 4, which goes on sale in the U.S. and four other countries Thursday, will include a few more sops to IT departments, such as the ability to distribute software wirelessly and more security features.

全球各地的消费者周四将排长队等待拿到最新款iPhone手机，但苹果公司这款智能手机的用户远非只有零售店里的那些拥趸，而是正在进军公务手机市场。

博士伦(Bausch & Lomb Inc.)等公司正在为员工购买iPhone手机，以部分取代他们目前使用的黑莓手机(BlackBerry)。今年早些时候，博士伦这家护眼产品生产商将iPhone定为其销售团队的标准装备。现在，这家公司约有1,200名销售人员配有iPhone。

Research In Motion Ltd.(RIM)出产的黑莓曾一直是企业为员工配备的标准公务智能手机，这很大程度上是因为RIM让企业技术部门能够方便地对员工配备的黑莓进行管理并确保其安全。信息技术专业人士曾将iPhone嗤之为玩具，他们许多人干脆禁止将iPhone作为公务手机。

据市场研究公司Forrester Research称，虽然黑莓现在依然是最受欢迎的公务手机，70%的企业IT部门目前支持公司选用黑莓，但也已有29%的企业选择支持iPhone，而去年这一比例只有17%，2007年iPhone刚推出时选择它当公务手机的企业为零。

促使企业选择iPhone的一大动力是员工们要求公司这么做，他们即使是全部或部分为自己的iPhone公务手机买单也在所不惜。美国电话电报公司(AT&T Inc.)的首席执行长斯蒂芬森(Randall Stephenson)上周在接受采访时说，该公司约40%的iPhone手机都卖给了企业或企业答应给报销一部分购机费用的个人。

美国电话电报公司说，虽然其销售人员并没有宣传iPhone比黑莓或其他智能手机更优秀，但该公司已采取一系列措施来增强iPhone对企业的吸引力，包括提供相关工具，以帮助开发能与企业自产软件相兼容的iPhone应用程序。

博士伦负责技术和应用软件的副总裁伍德斯(Simon Woods)说，公司之所以选择iPhone作为公务手机，是因为它能够接入公司的电子数据表和合同管理软件，虽然iPhone在美国只能入美国电话电报公司的网络是其一个不利因素。

苹果公司今年1月份表示，70%的“财富100强”(Fortune 100)企业都在测试或已经选用了iPhone手机。虽然苹果的营销重点依然是个人消费者，但该公司首席运营长库克(Tim Cook)今年1月说，苹果已增加了销售人手来帮助美国电话电报公司在美国几大地理区域销售iPhone。苹果拒绝对此发表进一步评论。

商业智能软件开发企业Microstrategy Inc.计划给更多员工配备iPhone手机，办法是当员工的黑莓手机不能再用时以iPhone替代它们。该公司目前有1,000部黑莓和400部 iPhone，其中200部iPhone是员工自己购买的。

RIM的副总裁里萨德(Tyler Lessard)在被问到是否担心iPhone或其他手机在公务手机领域与黑莓抢地盘时回答说，虽然其他公司正在涉足公务手机领域，但我们的业务也在扩展。他还说，RIM也在迅速扩展其消费者业务。该公司周四将发布季度收益报告。

最新款的iPhone 4手机周四将在美国和另外四个国家上市出售，它面向企业IT部门的标准操作程序要更多些，比如无线分发软件的功能以及更多安全功能。