Tim Cook spoke at the BoxWorks conference, which wraps up today
Apple has proved a game-changer in the consumer device market; in fact, the Cupertino, Calif.-based powerhouse tallied sales of 13 million iPhone 6s and 6s Plus devices in the three days following the Sept. 25 launch. But despite it’s success, Apple has yet to conquer the highly-valuable enterprise market.
Apple CEO Tim Cook addressed the need for partnerships as the company takes on the enterprise space in a conversation with Box CEO Aaron Levie during the BoxWorks conference.
“We’ve always been about making tools,” Cook said, according to a report in MacWorld. “For a while, we were bifurcated between consumer and enterprise. But now, you don’t say you want an enterprise smartphone, just like you wouldn’t say you want an enterprise car or an enterprise pen.
“If you think back in time, Apple and IBM were foes,” Cook continued. “Apple and Microsoft still compete, but we can partner on more things than we compete on. And that’s what customers want. [Apple users] love Office, and they want it to work on Mac better than it works on Windows, and it should.”
“I’m not a believer of holding grudges,” Cook said. “Having as many friends as you can, you can deliver much better solutions, and that’s what the enterprise wants us to do. Companies want to partner with other companies that are part of an ecosystem, not on an island by themselves. The island days are gone.”
Mitch Black, president of Mobi Wireless, discussed how Apple products have transitioned from the consumer to the enterprise with particular emphasis on the Apple Watch.
“Apple’s model is to build a platform and let the market [developers] create the compelling content,” Black said. “With that in mind, Apple Watch is a platform. People can’t see the value yet because there are no more than a handful of apps available. Think back to when the iPhone and iPad were released. If there hadn’t been an explosion of third-party applications that followed, both would have been mildly interesting but ultimately commercial failures.
“However, with companies like Salesforce.com getting on board and developing specific applications for the likes of the Apple Watch, incorporating these devices into enterprises’ wider mobile strategies could put some companies ahead of the curve,” Black added.
