Apple's SVP of software and services Eddy Cue today spoke at the Dropbox Open conference, where he talked about Apple's enterprise efforts and the upcoming 12.9-inch iPad Pro in an interview with Dropbox CEO Drew Houston. Several conference attendees covered Cue's remarks in a series of tweets with the hashtag DropboxOpen, giving some insight into the topics he covered.
According to Cue, Apple's success in the enterprise segment is a natural evolution of its success in the consumer space, as it's bridged the gap between devices used at home and devices used at work. Things "important to the consumer," he says, are "important to the enterprise."
We've always been a consumer company. We've been trying to create products for individuals and part of that was creating a product that had tools that allowed people to do things with them that we could never even imagine. And what's happened is if you look at the world today you work 24 by 7.
You're awake, you take it home with you, you take it everywhere. There's no longer the "enterprise" in the sense of the products you use there that you don't use somewhere else. Now you get to use the products everywhere.
Apple is hoping the iPad Pro will further boost its enterprise sales, with Cue saying there's still a "huge opportunity" for growth. Cue also said he believes enterprise has a long way to go to catch up on new mobile technologies the way consumers have. During the interview, Cue brought out an iPad Pro to show off on stage, and teased the audience, asking them to look under their chairs to find nothing underneath.
Eddy Cue pulled out an iPad Pro and Drew Houston said “look under your chairs, guys!” and we did and there was nothing #DropboxOpen — Casey Newton (@CaseyNewton) November 4, 2015
At the start the interview, Houston said he couldn't wait to get his hands on an iPad Pro, to which Cue responded "Only a few more days," potentially suggesting the iPad Pro's launch will happen soon. Current rumors have indicated the iPad Pro will be available in stores on November 11, but it's possible Apple could accept pre-orders before that date.
