It comes as no surprise that Apple Inc. is focusing its new iPhone advertisements on small businesses next. Since the Apple App Store opened 10 months ago for the iPhone and the iPod Touch, it is now approaching its 1 billionth download, which should come as early as tomorrow. Consumer demand caused about 110 million “apps” to be downloaded each month; these apps, from the frivolous to the practical, are free or can be bought for 99 cents or $1.99.
But the new iPhone 3G ads running now on television’s prime-time hours show a small-business bent. Users, the narration says, can use the iPhone to process credit-card transactions using Inner Fence’s Credit Card Terminal application; print a shipping label for a package using the Print & Share app; and check on the status of a delivery with FedEx Mobile app.
The move follows a number of key changes Apple has done to the iPhone’s functionality as it seeks to tap into the business market. They’ve already made business users happy with push e-mail, calendar and contacts capabilities and compatibility with Microsoft Exchange.
“Apple obviously has made some changes to their software earlier this year to include enterprise applications,” Carolina Milanesi, a research director at Gartner, said to NewsFactor.com, adding that Apple has also introduced virtual private network technology and other changes to firm up security issues for businesses. But enterprise adoption success haven’t reach high levels yet, analysts say.
Could Apple also be worried about competition? Research in Motion Ltd.’s Blackberry, whose users are mainly business professionals, started its own version of the iPhone App Store earlier this month, called the Blackberry App World. So far, Blackberry has less than 1,000 applications compared with the 31,000 available for the iPhone. Apple, whose App Store contributes less than 1% to revenues, reports fiscal second-quarter earnings this afternoon, after the closing bell.
Readers, do you think having an iPhone is (or will be) useful to your business with the applications they’re touting? What “app” has been most helpful to you?
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