Now it gets interesting.
Word that Apple wants a slice of the corporate market by enabling iPhone users to load email and calendar items off their Microsoft-flavored company servers shows just how open we’re going to get.
For years, the BlackBerry has been first choice for corporations who equip employees with the productivity tool that talks to Microsoft Outlook. Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, no slouch of a venture capital firm (and always good for hype), has started a $100 million “iFund” to support developers writing new applications for the iPhone. “It’s bigger than the personal computer,” Kleiner Perkins partner John Doerr told Forbes.
Apple’s stock performance did not get as much attention as CEO Steve Jobs’ jabs at Research in Motion, maker of the BlackBerry. But clearly, last year’s goal of 1% cellphone market penetration just got bigger for Apple. And with good reason.
The stock closed at $122 Friday. That’s 40% off its high of $202 in December.
Research in Motion, meanwhile, closed at $98, which is almost 30% off its early November peak of $137.
Is Apple picking a fight in the wrong place? Or will it have it both ways: consumer cool, plus give users the option to be corporate buddy of Microsoft environment and that nerdy PC Guy?
Three months ago, Apple spent piles of money making fun of him. Now they inch closer to him.
photo: nilzzen on flickr
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