IBM and Apple, who ignored each other in the 1970s and feuded intensely through the 1980s, have announced a historic partnership that will support the integration of iOS systems with IBM cloud and infrastructure applications. The result of the deal is that IBM will distribute iPhones and iPads to corporate customers. Apple will provide phone support, and IBM will handle on-site support. IBM says the companies will create "more than a hundred industry-specific enterprise solutions, including native apps, developed exclusively from the ground up, for iPhone and iPad.”

The benefits for both companies are clear: IBM has no mobile system and needs a way to extend its vast portfolio of business applications into the mobile age. Apple rules the consumer space but has no realistic means for breaking into the business realm. Beyond the immediate benefits, some experts speculate that IBM sees this partnership as a means for delivering the services of its new-age Watson analytical system, with human-like abilities for solving problems in fields such as medicine and finance, directly into the hands of consumers. Bringing a 21st century human-like intelligence to the iPhone and iPad is very much in Apple's vision for building a supernatural device that attends to the owner's every need.

According to most commentators, the big loser in this deal is Blackberry, which has already lost much of the consumer market to Apple and Android vendors but is still holding a strong position with corporate mobile users.