New Fronts Open Up in Smartphone Turf War

Research In Motions BlackBerry has long been the standard-issue smartphone for businesses, largely because RIM made it easy for corporate technology departments to manage and secure its devices. Information-technology professionals dismissed the iPhone as a toy, and many banned it from their companies outright. But while BlackBerrys are still the most popular corporate device, with 70% of IT departments currently supporting the gadget, about 29% of businesses now support the iPhone, up from 17% last year and none in 2007 when the iPhone first launched, according to Forrester Research. One catalyst is that employees are clamoring for iPhones, even if they have to pay for all or part of it themselves. AT&T Inc. CEO Randall Stephenson said in an interview last week that about 40% of its iPhones are sold to companies or individuals with corporate discounts.