The U.S. Department of Defense has formally announced its approval of Apple Inc's iOS devices for usage along its military networks. The move could potentially spell trouble for Blackberry, which has long been favored in the integral enterprise market.
The certification of Apple's iPhones and iPads follows earlier approvals this month to allow secure network access for the latest BlackBerry 10 smartphones and tablets, along with specific Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. smartphones.
According to figures released by the Pentagon, the Department currently utilizes greater than 600,000 mobile devices along its networks, of which approximately 470,000 are BlackBerry's. However given increasing adoption rates of Apple and Android devices across many other federal agencies over the past several years, BlackBerry's traditional dominance in the U.S. government might be in jeopardy.
The trend echoes a larger shift by many enterprises towards allowing a broader range of smart device options and flexibility. Devices which are capable of unifying both personal and professional employee preferences. While BlackBerry's have long been noted for their professional reliability and security, they have unfortunately fallen out of personal favor with many users.
The approval of Apple device usage by the Defense Department may not directly correlate to a significant decrease in BlackBerry sales, it can however ultimately affect smart device perception within other security-minded and regulated industries. Namely the financial, legal, and medical enterprise markets, which like the governmental sector have typically favored BlackBerry devices.
Unfortunately for BlackBerry, following the delayed launch of its newest 10 platform devices, with a significantly smaller application ecosystem than its competitors, and lackluster adoption rates globally, perception is truly everything. Even with its future lower-end priced phones and forthcoming cross-platform messaging service, the company still faces a long and challenging road ahead.
