HSBC May Ditch BlackBerry For 200,000 iPhones

Worldwide bank HSBC's employees have long used BlackBerries as the handset of choice, but rumor has it that they are considering replacing all 200,000 of them with iPhones. Their Australia CIO Brenton Hush says the company has been reviewing the new iPhone for a while, and it looks like they like what they've seen so far.

"We are actually reviewing iPhones from a HSBC Group perspective ... and when I say that, I mean globally," said the CIO.

Internationally, the company has about 300,000 staff. If they do decide to go ahead with the switch, it will mean Apple will have their biggest order for iPhones yet, as well as a major blow to BlackBerry maker RIM.

"A decision on a piece of hardware like that would potentially be deployed, conservatively, to 200,000 people," said Hush. "You know, it's a big decision, especially when you have an existing fleet out there."

"But it's definitely something we are considering from a HSBC Group perspective," he said. "We always explore the potential application of new technologies and this is no different."

While HSBC's Australian presence is much smaller than the other major Australian banks in the country, their global operations collectively have a US$6 billion annual technology budget and a team of 30,000 IT professionals supporting 300,000 employees.

While he doesn't own one himself, Hush added, "I have obviously had hands on experience with them."

[via ZDNet]