Despite resistance, the iPhone is slowly being adopted by more and more corporate enterprises, says Chris Whitmore of Deutsche Bank. The analyst estimates that approximately 2 million iPhones will be in enterprise use by the end of 2009, whether bought directly by IT departments or by workers receiving reimbursements. Such sales could give Apple a 7 percent marketshare, a substantial increase over the 2 percent achieved in 2008.

Several factors are said to be helping the iPhone, such as overall user satisfaction, identified in a recent JD Power survey. The device's virtual keyboard is proving to be less of an obstacle than expected, given early complaints about a lack of feedback and a greater chance of mistakes in comparison to a phone like the BlackBerry Curve. An increasing number of enterprise iPhone apps are also said to be available, now numbering over 6,000. This shows the "accelerating utility of the platform," according to Whitmore.

Other smartphone platforms by Microsoft and Research in Motion are meanwhile said to be stagnating. While Microsoft has 20 percent of the enterprise market and RIM over 60, both companies are said to be "years" behind Apple developmentally. The pair are also losing the support of third-party developers, who may often be attracted by the iPhone, or else Google's Android platform.