3,300 Ford employees currently using a BlackBerry will be getting a company-issued iPhone before the end of the year, and 6,000 will be replacing their flip phones with iOS devices in the next two year. Ford spokesperson Sara Tatchio commented on the switch.
"We are going to get everyone on iPhones. It meets the overall needs of the employees because it is able to serve both our business needs in a secure way and the needs we have in our personal lives with a single device."
Security has typically been BlackBerry's primary selling point, but with a big name like Ford switching over, it's a vote of confidence to the level of security Apple has been able to implement in iOS. Obviously the IBM partnership will support Apple's asserted push into enterprises like Ford. Ford is still using BlackBerry's QNX platform for their dash system, but they're also actively working on iOS in the Car. It will be interesting to see if this automotive giant goes all-in with Apple, both internally and externally.
Source: Bloomberg
