But quickly the conversation shifted towards Apple’s role in the enterprise, which is heavily interested in the space since it’s a $25 billion annual market for the company.
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“We still compete today, but frankly Apple and Microsoft can partner on more things than we could compete on”, he said.
Apple has been making an effort of late to expand iOS into the business realm through partnerships.
Cook also mentioned that Apple’s new iPhone Upgrade Plan was off to an “incredible start”, but would have to wait until the company’s earnings report next month to disclose the exact figures. “For a while, we were bifurcated between consumer and enterprise”. In order to do great things, we need to talk to other people. “Partnering with Microsoft is great for our customers”.
Turning to partnerships, Levie and Cook discuss how Apple is working with former rivals like IBM and Microsoft to deliver better solutions for customers, something that will definitely benefit enterprise.
Cook’s comments underscore how much Apple has changed over the years that he has been leading it, and also how the company is playing by a different rulebook when it comes to enterprise. “In a few areas I don’t want anyone to copy us but in this one, I want everybody to copy us”. Cook said the company’s US operations are running entirely on renewable energy, and Apple is now focused on getting its supply chain to the same point – though that could be a challenge given the scale of its factory operations in China. “We think it subtracts from both, and you don’t get the best experience from either”.
At Rising, demonstrations routinely switched between iPad and iPhone with only a nod in the direction of Android devices. “But now, you don’t say you want an enterprise smartphone, just like you wouldn’t say you want an enterprise vehicle or an enterprise pen”.
Based on this, it seems unlikely that Apple will be having a change of heart soon, but the company has been known to revisit ideas that they had once dismissed, so for all we know, we could see an iOS and OS X unification in the future, but what do you guys make of that?
Apple encourages its customers to use the two-step verification process to ensure blanket protection for the Apple ID account information in their devices and in the iCloud.
The fierce feuds between technology giants that shaped the industry’s landscape for 30 years and made great fodder for headlines have been retired at least in part because Apple’s chief executive is a crunchy, even-tempered existentialist. He took over from Steve Jobs on 25 August 2011.
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Wired noted, however, that Apple’s release of a white paper that reveals all the details of the iOS 9 security measures might have made the tech company more vulnerable to hack attacks.
