Apple Quietly Aims for More B2B Volume

Brandweek, Oct 2, 2000 by Todd Wasserman

Apple, whose stock price sagged last week on news that its consumer-focused iMacs weren't moving as quickly as hoped, will target the more lucrative B2B market on the strength of its pending OS X release, sources said.

Apple is planning to launch a business-focused Web site offering special deals and value-added services to business customers who buy above a certain volume to bookend its consumer Apple Store site, retail sources said. The site may go up as soon as this month.

Some East Coast retailers also said they've recently been contacted by an Apple rep, who asked them to give a list of their corporate accounts of more than $100,000. Dale Gensamer, general manager of the Computer Store of Pittsburgh, said the Apple rep "made it sound like he was doing us a favor and protecting us," in asking for the list. Gensamer said he turned him down out of concern that Apple would go directly after those accounts. "They'd rather do that than reinvent the wheel," he said.

Another retailer, who requested anonymity said he received an e-mail in which Apple said it needed the list in order to know which accounts not to go after. He, too, denied the request. Other Apple retailers in the Midwest and West Coast said they have not been asked for their lists.

Apple declined comment. Although Apple has traditionally struggled to penetrate businesses outside graphically oriented media operations, the 10th release of its Mac operating system, due in January, is positioned for broader corporate appeal, analysts said. Still, a push there would be a "pretty tough sell" for Apple, since it is incompatible with the Windows/Intel-based systems relied upon by most corporate users, said Michael Silver, research director at Gartner Group, Stamford, Conn.

Still, "it's a definite strategy that Apple has. They're putting more money into it," said Jim Estill, president of Apple wholesaler EMJ Data Systems, Guelph, Ont. "I don't think they're going to go after every desktop in corporate America. I think they know it's a bit of a stretch, but they already have strength in desktop publishing, digital video and Web hosting, and they want to build on that."