Apple teams up with old adversary Cisco in bid to boost iPhone enterprise sales

Apple makes up with another old adversary as it ramps up its focus on the enterprise

Apple is teaming up with one of its old legal adversaries, networking giant Cisco, in a bid to boost sales of its iPhones and iPads to businesses.

The companies had engaged in a fierce legal battle back in 2007, when Cisco sued Apple for violating its trademark of the "iPhone", which it had acquired back in 2000. The case was settled by an agreement allowing both companies to use the name.

Now, the companies are teaming up in a move intended to help Apple's mobile devices communicate more effectively over Cisco's enterprise networking equipment. Apple iPhones and iPads continue to be widely used in the workplace, whether they are corporate devices or employee-owned devices used in bring-your-own-device (BYOD) schemes.

The Apple announcement said: "Cisco networks and iOS devices will be optimised so that they work together more efficiently and reliably with the goal of providing users with even greater performance."

The companies are also preparing to work on enabling better integration for Cisco Spark, Telepresence and WebEx on Apple iPads and iPhones, and integrating the phone directories of iPhones and Cisco work-desk phones.

It follows a new stance on the enterprise taken by Apple under the stewardship of CEO Tim Cook. Last year, Cook announced a partnership with IBM, another one-time adversary, to "transform enterprise mobility".

Rumours also persist about the potential launch of an iPad Pro - a hybrid device for an enterprise user that would effectively "replace the laptop", and would compete with the Microsoft Surface Pro.

But nothing has materialised from these rumours, which started back in 2013. An iPad Pro may be announced at Apple's event in San Francisco, California on Wednesday next week, where the next iteration of Apple's iPhones are almost certain to be unveiled.