Apple, IBM partner to push iPhones, iPads into offices

WASHINGTON: International Business Machines will partner exclusively with Apple to sell iPhones and iPads loaded with applications geared at enterprise clients this fall, the company announced on Tuesday.

The announcement, just two days before IBM releases its second quarter earnings, comes as the company attempts to shift its focus to software and services as its hardware unit continues to slump, and follows a string of mobile software acquisitions. The company hopes software sales will contribute half of its total profit by 2015.

The company will release more than 100 apps targeting industry specific issues in retail, healthcare, banking, travel, transportation and telecommunications, IBM said.

"We wanted to focus on creating an absolutely irresistible workflow and processes and a design of apps that can be used by every user in the organization," Bridget van Kralingen, IBM's senior vice president of global business services told Reuters from Apple headquarters in Cupertino, California.

"We wanted to remove some of the existing barriers of mobile in enterprise," she said adding that chief information officers worry about security, utilizing cloud and installing apps in mobile devices.

The partnership, which was six months in the making, will offer services geared at security, mobile device management and big data and analytics. The company also plans to develop cloud services optimized for Apple's mobile operating system, iOS. The devices will operate through wireless carriers chosen by the client, she said.

BlackBerry shares were down 3% following the announcement. The Canadian smartphone maker has increasingly targeted its secure software at businesses as part of an effort to turn the company around after losing ground to Apple's iPhone and Samsung Electronics.

Apple and Samsung have steadily expanded their share of the mobile enterprise market in recent years, mostly at BlackBerry's expense, while Microsoft Windows phones have made little headway.

Increasingly, Apple's expansion has been driven by employees bringing in their own devices and requesting corporate support, the so-called bring-your-own-IT trend.

Hooking up with IBM may help address lingering concerns about smartphone software security and data privacy, in the form of a veteran partner that's led in enterprise IT for decades.

"This deal is a very targeted attempt by Apple with the help from IBM to focus on the enterprise, corporate market which has really been the main business of Blackberry," said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer at Solaris Group in Bedford Hills, New York.

IBM shares were up 1.9% and Apple shares rose 1.3% after the bell following the announcement.

The apps will be supported through AppleCare, Apple's hardware warranty and customer service.

iWatch coming? Apple poaches Tag Heuer senior VP

PARIS: Apple has poached a senior executive from Swiss luxury watch brand Tag Heuer, which could be to help it with the launch of its iWatch expected this autumn.

Tag Heuer, part of luxury goods group LVMH, said on Friday its vice president for sales, Patrick Pruniaux, who had been with the brand for seven years, was leaving on Monday to join Apple. It did not say what his new job would be.

Apple declined to comment.

The iWatch will be the closest the US company has come to selling a fashion accessory and marks its first foray into the personal luxury goods market.

It is in a race against Samsung Electronics and Google to turn computers into wearable fashion and must-have items as smartphones, increasingly becoming commoditized items, start loosing their appeal.

Apple has plucked several executives from the luxury sector in recent months. Burberry ex-chief executive Angela Ahrendts started as its new head of retail and online sales in May, and former head of French fashion brand Yves Saint Laurent Paul Deneve was hired last year to work on special projects.

"I think he was probably head-hunted," a Tag Heuer spokeswoman said of Pruniaux, adding a replacement had already been found.

Analysts and industry executives say the jury is still out on whether smartwatches will disrupt the luxury Swiss watch industry.

"I don't believe that an iWatch will be a threat to luxury Swiss watches," said Jon Cox, analyst at Kepler Cheuvreux in Zurich.

"But where I do see some potential impact is at lower, for example below $1,000, price points where there could be a temporary dislocation if there is super high demand for iWatches."

Jean-Claude Biver, head of watch brands at LVMH and chairman of watch brand Hublot, said he believed the threat of smart watches had to be taken seriously by the Swiss watch industry.

"The iWatch will have the same status symbol power as many other Apple products, especially at the beginning," he said. "I personally believe it has the potential to be a threat for the industry, and it should not stay with its arms crossed."

Apple applied for a trademark for the "iWatch" in Japan, a patent official said earlier this week, signaling the iPhone maker could be moving ahead with plans to launch a watch-like device soon.

Speculation has been mounting that Apple was preparing to launch an iWatch which would include multiple health and fitness sensors and access to features such as messages and notifications through integration with the iPhone and iPad.