Apple's iPhone Getting More Popular With Enterprise Buyers, Says Study (AAPL, RIMM)

Encouraging news for Apple: Its iPhone appears to be making inroads with some enterprise buyers. ChangeWave's August survey of almost 2,000 people "involved with I.T. spending in their organization" says that 17% of respondents plan to buy iPhones in the next quarter, up from 13% in May and 11% in February.

What's changed since then? Apple has rolled out its new iPhone 3G, which is cheaper, and -- when it works -- offers faster Internet access. And Apple (AAPL) has released its iPhone 2.0 software update, which includes several enterprise-focused features like access to Microsoft (MSFT) Exchange email and calendars. Says ChangeWave's Paul Carton:

In yet another positive for Apple, 19% report the release of the 3G iPhone has made their company More Likely to purchase Apple products in the future - only 1% say Less Likely. Thus, the 3G iPhone release appears to be having a positive 'halo effect' in terms of improved overall corporate purchasing intentions for Apple products in general.

Meanwhile, Research In Motion (RIMM) continues to dominate enterprise buyers' plans: Some 79% say they plan to buy RIM BlackBerries in the next three months. But that's a slight decline from May, when 82% of respondents said they'd be buying BlackBerries.

Take this at face value: Just one survey from one source. We don't know how big these companies are; how many iPhones they're actually buying, if any; whether they'd be canceling their RIM deals; etc. But it's certainly the kind of news Apple is hoping to hear.

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