The glossy brochure that Sprint Nextel is using to publicize Biz 360, its new package of communications services for small businesses, features just one cellphone. That handset, Motorola’s XPRT, appears three times in the 12-page handout. A caption notes that the Android phone boasts “enterprise-class security”, international roaming in more than 200 countries, a physical keyboard and touchscreen and mobile hotspot functionality.Sprint may be highlighting Android devices like the XPRT to its enterprise customers -- and have a "reinvigorated relationship" with Motorola to sell its high-end smartphones -- but the company says demand remains for BlackBerry phones. That position is notable given the tumult that BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM) has endured in recent months. Even RIM’s unveiling of five new BlackBerrys last week elicited only muted enthusiasm from most industry watchers.
Paget Alves, Sprint's head of business services, is more optimistic about RIM’s fate. The Canadian company still holds about 50% (in terms of operating systems) of the enterprise market, said Alves in an interview. That “pretty substantial” share means “by no stretch is RIM vanishing,” added Alves.
At the same time, Android has become much more appealing to businesses in the past year or so, as Google and its hardware partners, like Motorola and Samsung, have worked to make the operating system more secure and manageable for IT managers. Alves acknowledged those strides but also said that RIM continues to be viewed as a particularly secure operating system by his business clients. The company “still has the dominant security solution for enterprises,” said Alves. “We think it has a resilient business model.”
Alves’ remarks are in line with Sprint’s announcement last week that it would offer two of RIM’s new devices: a revamped BlackBerry Bold and the new, full-touchscreen BlackBerry Torch. Those two phones, which have yet to be priced, will come to Sprint in the September timeframe.
Alves has also been keeping a close eye on business interest in tablets. He said the trend is ramping up “perhaps faster than many people expected,” primarily because companies view tablets as compelling, lower-priced alternatives to laptops. “There can be a cost benefit to letting workers have tablets,” said Alves. With business customers, the “primary catalyst is saving money,” he added.
Sprint currently offers two tablets with cellular plans: Samsung’s Galaxy Tab and HTC’s EVO View 4G. but Alves said the tablet market remains “Wi-Fi centric” for now. He expects that to change once more consumers adopt tablets and grow comfortable toting them around. “The trend will change as users…shift to using tablets in motion,” said Alves.
Like other carriers, Sprint develops its own mobile applications, for both consumers and business customers. So far, Sprint has not created many business-focused apps specifically for tablets but Alves said he expects that to change.
