Some Microsoft employees like the iPhone

Much to the chagrin of Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, as many as 10,000 Microsoft employees apparently use the iPhone from rival Apple, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The WSJ, citing two sources who heard estimates from senior Microsoft executives, reports that nearly 10,000 iPhone users accessed the Microsoft employee email system last year--a figure that translates into about 10 percent of the company's global workforce. In fact, iPhones are out in the open at Microsoft's campus, and top executives such as J Allard, chief experience officer for the entertainment and devices division, use the iPhone.

This is despite Ballmer's apparent hatred toward the device. Last September at an all-company meeting a Microsoft employee used his iPhone to take pictures of the CEO. Ballmer took the phone away and pretended to stomp on it in front of thousands of employees, according to those present at the meeting. Ballmer apparently uses phones that run Microsoft's WinMo platform.

Microsoft doesn't outright ban the use of iPhones, but it has modified its corporate mobile-phone policy that only reimburses service fees for employees who use phones that run on the WinMo platform. Microsoft claims the changes were made as part of an overall cost-cutting plan. Moreover, many employees make an effort to hide their iPhones.

For more:
- see this Wall Street Journal article

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