Apple Could Make Inroads at the Deparment of Defense

courtesy of BlackberryThe Defense Department will continue to take new bids for its suppliers of smartphones. The BlackBerry, made by Canada’s Research In Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM), has most of that business, but the new bids could change that. The…

Published November 1, 2012, 6:47am ET · 1 min read

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The Defense Department will continue to take new bids for its suppliers of smartphones. The BlackBerry, made by Canada’s Research In Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM), has most of that business, but the new bids could change that.

The media have been quick to point out the obvious. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) could get a stronghold in the Pentagon, and is likely to, because it has products widely favored in the market.

But it is too early to assume that the BlackBerry cannot hold most of its position. BlackBerry software comes with secure servers, which makes it ideal for creating secure systems. That may be more important than the popularity of any one device.

Reuters reports that despite BlackBerry’s advantage:

Losing some of its Pentagon business to other providers could deal another blow to RIM, which once commanded the lead in the smartphone market but has rapidly lost ground to Apple and Samsung’s line of products as customers abandon its aging BlackBerry devices.

Douglas A. McIntyre

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Trey Thoelcke

Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.

Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.

Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.

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