Some Companies, Which Barred the iPhone, Build Apps for Tablet Computer and Give Apple Gadget to Employees

When Apple Inc.'s first iPhone came out in 2007, many companies told their employees that the device wasn't appropriate for the workplace. The iPad is a different story.

The company's tablet-style device seems to be sidestepping the resistance that the iPhone and other consumer-oriented devices have faced in the corporate environment. Indeed, many businesses have raced to snap up iPads.

Hikosaburo Yasuda says he knows a trend when he sees one and plans to buy Apple Inc.’s iPad to keep up with junior members in his computer club. Yasuda is 95.

“It’s important to always try new things, otherwise you get left behind,” Yasuda said. “All these books in just one place, and so many familiar, classic titles that I’ve never had a chance to read. I want to buy the iPad just for that.”

Wells Fargo & Co. spent two years studying the iPhone before letting bankers use the device at work. Apple Inc.’s iPad, released in April, took just weeks to get cleared.

This time around, safeguards against security breaches are stronger from the start, according to Megan Minich, a senior vice president at the San Francisco-based bank. Her colleagues used two of the first shipment of 15 iPads to demonstrate financial products at an investors’ conference in May. More are on the way, Minich said.

Are you an Apple bull looking for even more ammunition to bolster your faith in the company? Barclays Capital has you covered. In a report today the research shop predicts that:

• Tablets computers, a category that didn’t really exist until this spring, will be here to stay;
• Apple (AAPL) is going to own most of that market for years to come;
• This is yet more bad news for Microsoft (MSFT) and its Windows franchise, as well as PC manufacturers like Dell, in particular.