Although the graphs are quite clear on the AppleInsider post which makes the claim, I put the question mark in the title because it seems to me that there is a line missing on it: Windows Mobile, anyone?

I know the iPhone has been sweeping the enterprise phone market, by hook and by crook, like it's going out of style (I think I just used, in a row, two metaphors that I have never really completely understood, but nonetheless I believe correctly) and make no mistake, to rise to 14% of the business phone market in a little more than a year is nothing to sneeze at. I don't have any numbers to suggest it's not going like gangbusters. But, and maybe this is just because it's from "Apple"Insider, I can't help but find myself a little skeptical at the announcement.

The striking absence of Windows Mobile from the numbers may be explained away somehow, but for all practical purposes, I think they are probably the elephant in the room. I wouldn't care to guess what position they hold, and possibly the originators of the study were just looking at hardware manufacturers, but doing so doesn't really provide an accurate picture of market dominance.

There's also the fact that "corporate" doesn't mean "enterprise." It's not much surprise that the iPhone has been able to make rapid inroads in smaller organizations, with less institutionalized resistance and more susceptibility to individual influence by senior executives and owners. And the article acknowledges that three quarters of Apple's market share is in businesses with under 1000 employees. While it's a nice start, it doesn't represent any massive influx of iPhone use at the levels where its competitors are strongest.

I think Apple still has a shot at getting a piece of the enterprise phone market, but if anything, this points at the long row they will have to hoe to get there rather than their success on the path so far.

This post will (hopefully) conclude our "Tired Metaphor Week" here at the CIO weblog and we'll be rolling out new and exciting metaphors come next week.