IBM share price down, delivers first products from Apple partneship

International Business Machines Corp and Apple Inc will be revealing the first ten applications since their partnership was announced five months ago.

The initial set of applications are aimed at governments and businesses, who are trying to keep up with the fast development of todays technology. Under the targeted audience are banks, retailers, insurers, telecommunication companies and airlines among others.

The partnership between the two tech giants is focused at harvesting the fruits generated by combining IBMs analytical data and back-office abilities and Apples knowledge of structuring user interfaces with the mobility of the iPads and iPhones.

One of the application called “Passenger+”, intended for flight crews, allows airlines to step up their above-ground performance, offering personalized services to their passengers, re-booking and baggage information.

“Incident Aware” is another application which would be utilized by law enforcement officers, allowing them to use their iPhones to receive real-time information about a location of an incident, victim status and crime history, while also providing an improved method for calling back-up.

“This is a big step for iPhone and iPad in the enterprise, and we can’t wait to see the exciting new ways organizations will put iOS devices to work,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “The business world has gone mobile, and Apple and IBM are bringing together the world’s best technology with the smartest data and analytics to help businesses redefine how work gets done.”

Bridget van Kralingen, IBM’s senior vice president of global business services, said they are co-operating with companies to create applications for the iOS operating system and that 50 of these business said that these programs cover “pain points” in their respective industries. Citigroup, Air Canada, Sprint and Banorte are all helping for the development of the software.

Ms. Kralingen said the next batch of applications is expected to be released early next year. The two companies have previously announced that they are aiming at producing more than 100 business-oriented applications.

The partnership may help boost Apples iPad sales, which have been declining due to increased competition from low-cost Chinese rivals, while IBM may benefit in its attempt to catch up with the fast growing mobile market.

Apple fell 0.39% to trade at $113.68 at 15.17 GMT on the NASDAQ, while IBM dropped 0.48% to trade at $162.20, marking a one-year decrease of 8.47%. The company is valued at $161.30 billion. According to the Financial Times, the 21 analysts offering 12-month price targets for IBM have a median target of $171.00, with a high estimate of $198.00 and a low estimate of $125.00. The median estimate represents a 4.91% increase from the last close price of $162.99.