iPhone overtakes Palm in US biz smartphones

While already popular in the home space, the iPhone has now just outrun Palm for second place in the US corporate world, according to a new study from ChangeWave. Closing a gap that had already been narrowing in August, the Apple device now has a place in about 14 percent of companies in November versus Palm's 11 percent. The situation is a near-reversal of the situation three months earlier, when Palm held 15 percent and Apple just 9 percent. Research in Motion's BlackBerry line maintains a clear lead at 76 percent but has remained virtually flat in share since May.

Both the first- and second-place firms have widely split differences in terms of demographics: most RIM phones are used in larger businesses with more than 1,000 workers, while 75 percent of Apple phones in the workplace belong to small or medium-sized companies.

In planned purchases for the next quarter, Apple has extended a lead originally held since November 2007 and now sees 22 percent of companies looking to buy iPhones versus 17 percent three months prior. Palm here is also continuing a gradual decline and has dropped from 6 to 5 percent in the same timeframe.

The upswing is particularly important for Apple amid business spending conditions that are characterized as the "worst on record" by ChangeWave. About 39 percent of businesses have spent less than planned on technology so far in the fall, while those planning to spend less in the next quarter have jumped from 29 percent in August to 46 percent in November. The shift points to numerous businesses focusing their spending but doing so in a way that favors Apple.

Accordingly, future smartphone spending has climbed slightly from 34 percent to 35 percent between August and November.

Filed under: iPhone
Other story tags: BlackBerry, Research in Motion, Palm, ChangeWave