Dell told Reuters it would switch all of its BlackBerry-equipped staff to its own phones. The more than 25,000 workers currently assigned a BlackBerry will instead switch over to the Windows Phone 7 based Venue Pro. Company representative David Frink expected the switch to start in the near future but told the rollout would be gradual.
The transition was expected sicne Dell’s entrance into smartphone market, but is a hit to Google as it skips entirely over Dell’s current and future Android phones. Google has promoted newer versions of Android as work-friendly, but WP7’s inherent link to Microsoft services like Exchange may gives it an edge.
For RIM, the move is a loss of an important corporate customer in the US and compounds its current problems in the market place. It has already lost half its market share in the US over the past year, according to NPD data.
