Here’s some hard evidence to back up Apple’s claim that most every company in the Fortune 500 is either testing or deploying iPads. Executives from Tech Data, one of the world’s largest distributors of computer products, told attendees of Raymond James Technology & Supply Chain Conference that Apple products have become a significant portion of its business.
Specifically, Tech Data execs said that 12 percent of their revenue is Apple related, with the bulk generated by sales of Mac and iPad.
Now that’s not a massive percentage, but it’s certainly noteworthy. Extrapolating form it, Raymond James analyst Tavis McCourt figures Tech Data is selling about two million iPads into enterprise per year. And that’s just one distributor. Roll a few more into the equation and the number may be quite a bit larger.
“If we presume other distributors are having similar success, then enterprise distribution may account for 5-10 million iPads annually,” McCourt writes. “We view [this] as impressive as this does not include BYOD iPads brought into the enterprise.”
In other words, it doesn’t account for “Bring Your Own Device” (BYOD) programs that allow employees to use the gadgets they use at home in the workplace as well. And as we’ve noted here before, that is a fast-growing trend, particularly now that the iPad meets a number of enterprise-level security requirements and supports mobile device management solutions. Add that to the mix, and it would seem that Apple is indeed extending its reach into enterprise.
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