Analyst: Corporate smart phone market to grow

Analyst: Corporate smart phone market still largely untapped, good news for BlackBerry, iPhone

• On 3:06 pm EDT, Tuesday September 22, 2009

NEW YORK (AP) -- There is still a big and largely untapped corporate market for smart phones, according to a Barclays Capital report out Tuesday.

Barclays analyst Jeff Kvaal estimates there are roughly 570 million active corporate e-mail accounts, but only 5 percent of them are being accessed by cell phone.

While Kvaal doesn't expect that figure to reach 100 percent, he said, "There clearly still remains a significant growth opportunity in this market given the current modest penetration level."

That is good news for BlackBerry maker Research in Motion Ltd. Kvaal said the company has more than 80 percent of the corporate market and he expects that to grow.

But he said there "remains room for other players to enter this market and grow as well."

In particular, Kvaal expects Apple Inc.'s iPhone, which has done better among consumers, to show up more in corporate settings.

One reason is a trend he terms "BYOphone," or "buy your own phone," in which corporations allow employees to choose their smart phone and reimburse the cost rather than simply handing them a BlackBerry or some other device.

Kvaal said the "iPhone should get its fair share of this market over time" as more consumers decided they want to use the phone for work and software developers create more job-specific applications for the device.

Apple shares edged up 18 cents to $184.20 in afternoon trading, while Research in Motion's stock added 60 cents to $84.76.

Buzz up!