JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) and several other banks considering whether or not to allow their employees to make use of smartphones for use in work email, including the Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone and Google (NADASQ: GOOG) Android-based devices, according to a report from Bloomberg News citing people familiar with the matter.
The report said that JPMorgan will likely make a decision later this year. Currently employees at JPMorgan make use of Blackberry devices by to, but a decision by the bank could be a blow to Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) that has traditionally dominated mobile email use in the financial sector.
JPMorgan is not alone in its move away from Blackberry smartphones in the corporate marketplaces. UBS is now considering allowing its staff members to use iPhones for work messaging and Standard Chartered Bank said in May that it’s switching from BlackBerry to the iPhone.
Research In Motion Limited (RIM) is a designer, manufacturer and marketer of wireless solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market. Through the development of integrated hardware, software and services that support multiple wireless network standards, RIM provides platforms and solutions for seamless access to time-sensitive information, including e-mail, phone, short message service (SMS), Internet and intranet-based applications. RIM’s portfolio of products, services and embedded technologies are used by organizations worldwide and include the BlackBerry wireless solution, the RIM Wireless Handheld product line, software development tools and other software and hardware. Its subsidiaries include Research In Motion Corporation, Research In Motion UK Limited and RIM Finance, LLC. On June 2, 2010, Harman International sold its software operating systems unit, QNX Software Systems, to the Company.
Shares of RIMM traded down 2.67% hitting $43.83 during mid-day trading on Thursday.
