- Apple (AAPL +0.1%) has been "sending dedicated sales teams" to talk to CIOs in an attempt to grow its enterprise sales, Reuters reports. Citigroup is said to be among the firms talking with Apple about a deal.
- Sources add Apple, which has already worked with various startups to bring enterprise-focused iOS apps to market, is now courting other enterprise app developers. One partner, field service software firm ServiceMax, has reportedly co-hosted eight executive dinners with Apple over the past year.
- The report comes as Apple's partnership with IBM gets underway - among other things, the deal covers the creation of industry-specific iOS apps and related cloud services. It also comes amid reports Apple plans to launch a 12.9" iPad aimed at business users and creative pros.
- Though Apple's relationships with enterprises have often been thorny - Steve Jobs famously hated dealing with CIOs - Apple's corporate sales have seen healthy growth in recent years, aided by the BYOD trend and the addition of various business-friendly management and security features to iOS and Mac OS.
- Good Technology states iPhones and iPads respectively accounted for 69% and 89% of tracked Q3 smartphone and tablet activations among its 6K enterprise clients.