Apple and IBM Join Forces to Boost Mobile Sales

Archrivals team up for b-to-b market

Apple has partnered with IBM to give the mobile phone manufacturer fresh inroads into the business-to-business market.

Under the deal—dubbed an exclusive partnership between the archrivals—they will develop 100 apps for IBM’s business clients, highlighting Apple’s need to push into industries outside of its enterprise business. IBM will also sell its clients iPads and iPhones to be used within organizations.

While Apple has been successful at convincing consumers to purchase laptops, tablets and mobile phones, the company doesn’t have the same type of sales chops when it comes to what business clients look for in buying mobile devices in bulk.

To that point, Forrester Research analyst Jeffrey Hammond predicted that IBM—which is known for striking up multimillion-dollar deals with business clients—could lift Apple’s quarterly sales between 5 and 10 percent.

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