As BlackBerry 10 launches, Home Depot has said it's getting rid of the mobile platform and instead is switching to Apple's iPhone for 10,000 employees.
Shares of BlackBerry dropped by 4.6 percent after Home Depot, the world's fifth largest retailer, confirmed the switch. A representative for the home improvement retailer refused to divulge information pertaining to when the replacement process itself commenced.
Responding to the move, BlackBerry didn't address Home Depot's decision but referred to considerable enterprise interest in BlackBerry 10. "We are in the process of launching BlackBerry 10 globally in key markets, and we are seeing positive demand for the BlackBerry Z10 smartphone in countries where it is already available.
"And, for enterprises, we have over 2,700 unique businesses in North America already registered for our BlackBerry 10 Ready Program. We are confident that BlackBerry is, and will continue to be, the best solution for corporations managing large smartphone deployments. In fact, a recent study by Strategy Analytics shows that BlackBerry is more cost-effective and more secure than our competitors."
During October 2012, several large U.S. government agencies decided to switch to Google's Android platform and the iPhone. The Pentagon announced plans to hire a contractor to build a system that will secure at least 162,500 Android devices, as well as iPhone units.
The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) also terminated its contract with BlackBerry, previously known as Research In Motion. Subsequently, 17,600 employees had their BB devices replaced with the iPhone. Consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton is another firm that dropped BlackBerry in favor of a transition to iPhone and Android smartphones for about 25,000 employees. The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, meanwhile, decided to utilize the iPhone 5 instead of BlackBerry for 400 employees.
