Apple, Cisco Unveil Business Partnership
August 31 2015 - 4:45PM
Dow Jones News
By Don Clark And Daisuke Wakabayashi
Apple Inc. and Cisco Systems Inc. are teaming up to help bring
more iPhones and iPads to business users.
The partnership, announced Monday, is aimed at helping Apple's
mobile devices communicate more effectively on corporate networks
where Cisco gear is widely used, the companies said. They also plan
to jointly work on technology to help workers with iPhones and
iPads better exploit Cisco's collaboration products, including its
video- and Web-conferencing services.
Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook and Cisco Chairman John Chambers
said their companies had spent 10 months working out details of a
collaboration, which they outlined to thousands of Cisco sales
representatives Monday at a gathering in Las Vegas.
"It became clear to me that partnering with Cisco would yield
the results that would enable us to transform work," Mr. Cook said
in an interview.
The announcement comes as Apple, a powerhouse in devices sold to
consumers, has been taking steps to build a broader presence in
business.
Last year, Apple struck a partnership with International
Business Machines Corp. to jointly create apps for the workplace,
while IBM employees help sell and support Apple devices with
corporate clients.
One impetus is a slowdown in tablet sales. IPad sales have
fallen for six straight quarters; revenue from iPads declined 24%
in the nine months ended June 27, compared with the same period a
year earlier.
Cisco, meanwhile, has been trying to narrow its focus to more
profitable businesses since Chuck Robbins assumed the CEO position
from Mr. Chambers at the end of the July. Mr. Chambers, who leaned
heavily on acquisitions in turning Cisco into the biggest supplier
of networking equipment, said the Apple deal underscores a shift to
alliances for the biggest industry players.
"We are going to talk about a new generation of partnerships,"
Mr. Chambers said.
The Apple-Cisco pact comes as businesses seek to use smartphones
and tablets to make workers more productive. Apple's iPhones and
iPads are popular inside businesses, largely through purchases by
individual employees, rather than corporate technology buyers. Few
companies manage to effectively integrate mobile devices with their
networks of PCs and desk phones.
One big problem, Messrs. Cook and Chambers said, is ensuring
employees get adequate networking performance in the workplace.
Apple and Cisco said they aim to establish a "fast lane" for iOS
devices in the corporate world, prioritizing wireless and Web
connections so critical business applications aren't compromised by
streaming cat videos and other nonbusiness fare.
Another issue, they said, is that many workers now have their
phone address books on their iPhones rather than on their work desk
phones, which may be supplied by Cisco. Integrating such
directories is a goal of the partnership, Mr. Cook said.
Cisco, best known for routing and switching hardware, has
branched into other products used by businesses. The company's $1.2
billion acquisition of Meraki Inc. in 2012, for example, made Cisco
a bigger player in managing wireless networks at companies. Its
WebEx service is widely used for managing online meetings.
Though they are partners now, Cisco and Apple were at one time
legal adversaries. Cisco filed a trademark suit against Apple in
2007 over the name iPhone, the name for a product Cisco had
acquired. The suit was quickly settled, in an agreement that
allowed both companies to use the name.
Apple, now the world's most valuable company, struggled in the
PC era to establish a presence in what is now a $2 trillion annual
market for corporate technology spending. Many applications were
written only for PCs running Microsoft Corp.'s Windows software,
not Apple's Mac machines. Now, Apple is using the popularity of its
phones and tablets to regain a foothold.
Among other recent moves, Apple has developed a sales program
with technology companies that create apps targeted at businesses.
Apple is playing matchmaker to help companies bundle apps together
for small businesses--coupling, for example, a digital
cash-register app with a workplace scheduling app.
Apple is expected to unveil the next wave of iPhones at an event
in San Francisco on Sept. 9. The company has also been working on a
larger tablet--a 12.9-inch iPad--that is expected to help draw in
more corporate customers.
Write to Don Clark at don.clark@wsj.com and Daisuke Wakabayashi
at Daisuke.Wakabayashi@wsj.com
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 31, 2015 16:30 ET (20:30 GMT)
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