During yesterday's conference call to discuss Q3 fiscal results, Apple executives indicated the iPhone is a viable solution for corporate customers.

"We already have a number of corporate customers piloting the iPhone and they are very happy", said Apple executives. Apple proclaimed the email client that comes standard on the iPhone is the best in class when it comes to mobile devices. Peter Oppenheimer, Apple's CFO, said the iPhone can work for corporate customers with "very little bit of help from the corporate IT department."

Just two weeks after the iPhone release, third party company Synchronica announced Microsoft Exchange support for the iPhone. "The iPhone is a very attractive smartphone, appealing to both the consumer and prosumer market. However, IT Managers are not going to permit their executives to synchronize a device that requires them to punch holes in the corporate firewall. Mobile Gateway already supports synchronization with Microsoft Exchange, but does not require firewall modification or any software to be installed in the corporate network, so this won't be an issue. From a carrier's perspective, we are significantly expanding the reach of the iPhone into the business user and prosumer segments" , said Carsten Brinkschulte, CEO of Synchornica.

There are still hurdles that remain for Apple to penetrate the business market. Many of these corporations already have an existing solution in the form of a Blackberry, Palm Treo or Motorola Q. All of which feature a QWERTY keyboard. Familiarity with a tactile keyboard could cause potential customers to shy away from the touchscreen based iPhone keyboard. The lack of support for third party applications could also prove to be a potential stumbling block. All of the major competitors offer the ability to edit documents directly on their mobile device. If Apple were to open up the iPhone to third party software development, an iPhone version of Microsoft's Office suite would most certainly aid Apple in their efforts to penetrate the corporate market.