Just a few weeks ago, AT&T said that it would be marketing the Apple iPad toward its business or enterprise users. Many considered it a blow to the BlackBerry PlayBook’s future if Apple got a huge head start in the corporate market with the iPad. Gartner is now telling CEOs of major corporations to make way for the iPad.
According to TUAW:
Stephen Prentice, a VP and Gartner fellow, said in the report: “It is not usually the role of the CEO to get directly involved in specific technology device decisions, but Apple’s iPad is an exception. It is more than just the latest consumer gadget. CEOs and business leaders should initiate a dialog with their CIOs about if they have not already done so.”
That’s a big, bold statement coming from Gartner regarding Apple’s tablet, but it also sends a pretty strong message to other tablet makers like Samsung, and soon LG and HP.
Gartner even continues:
“While there are no certainties, the iPad looks set to become a market-disrupting device, like the iPod before it. Even if you think it is just a passing fad, the cost of early action is low, while the price of delay may well be extremely high.”
The firm recommends that corporations prepare for widespread adoption by mid-2011. By then, we’ll likely already be onto version two for the iPad. Coupled with the story we heard this morning about Bank of America and Citigroup considering a switch from BlackBerry to the iPhone, will Apple be the dominant player in the corporate mobile space next year?
[Via: TUAW]