Apple seeks to move deeper into HP, Oracle territory

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David Paul Morris

Apple is taking a run at the enterprise business of industry leaders such as HP and Oracle, seeking to offset a gradual slowdown of growth in other businesses, Reuters reported Monday. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

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Apple Inc. is moving deeper into enterprise software, working with a team of developers and hiring a dedicated sales staff to woo away potential clients such as Citigroup Inc. from competitive market leaders, including Hewlett-Packard Co. and Oracle Corp.

Reuters reported Monday that Apple's expansion of workplace offerings aims to offset a gradual slowdown of growth, illustrated by annual declines in iPad sales, citing anonymous sources.

Apple announced an exclusive arrangement in July with IBM Corp., teaming up to provide software applications and cloud services for corporate clients, who increasingly compute on commutes. Industry experts told Reuters that the partnership with IBM could allow Apple to begin rivaling HP and Dell Inc. in office IT, Oracle and SAP SE in business apps, and Microsoft Corp. and Google Inc. in mobile work apps. In any one of the three markets, Apple could face fierce competition against longstanding rivals.

Apple reportedly deployed sales teams to speak with chief information officers. An anonymous source told Reuters that Citigroup has been in talks to sign on, while another speculated over the business interests of DuPont, which occasionally co-hosts dinners with Apple.

Apple declined a request for comment, Reuters said.