Edible Apple

It’s hard to argue with the fact that Apple has the consumer end of the smartphone market on lock down, but one area where App still has lots of room to grow is in the enterprise. As Apple continues to push forward in an attempt to increase iPhone marketshare and corporate adoption, the company is making inroads into a niche part of the market traditionally dominated by RIM.

In doing so, the Wall Street Journal reportsthat Apple is snatching up some of RIM’s top enterprise sales talent.

In the past 18 months, at least five members of RIM’s enterprise-sales team have left the company to join Apple. This includes Geoff Perfect, who served as Head of Strategic Sales at RIM for nearly five years before leaving in April 2009 and joining Apple a month later as Head of Enterprise iPhone Sales, according to LinkedIn, the online networking service for professionals.

In January, Joe Bartlett, Steve Marshall and Peter Decker all left RIM after working there for about four years, according to LinkedIn. Bartlett and Marshall joined Apple a month later, while Decker joined them in February. Decker was a Global Account Manager at RIM, Bartlett was a Senior Global Sales Manager and Marshall was a Global Strategic Account Manager, according to Linkedin.

At Apple, Bartlett sells iPhones and iPads to companies in the New England region, while Marshall and Decker are listed as iPhone sales reps for the Greater New York City area, according to LinkedIn.

In June, Paul Alvarez left RIM after working five years as a Global Strategic Account Manager, according to his LinkedIn profile. He joined Apple the same month and is listed on LinkedIn as working in enterpise iPad and iPhone sales in Canada.

Telling.