A little bit of fly-by fanboy there. I don't mind the claim, but I suspect there's a host of reasons. Perhaps there are some enterprise lock-out features (the article mentions this), a (slightly) higher bar to rooting, a known repository of "safe" apps (although these might be blocked), an appeal to customers' sensibilities (subjective "cool" factor), ...

... or maybe they just got a good deal as Apple works to unload back stock in preparation for the pending iPhone 5 debut.

You might argue with all of these criteria. I'm just saying that it's likely the company had a reason, and a considered response is better than Android v. iPhone sniping.

Looks like two reasons. First to differentiate Lowe's from Home Depot which is using Motorola devices (Android?).

Second, I imagine they will use the devices as actual phones to contact the employees. No need to PA a clerk to pick up a phone. Just forward the call.

Honest questions:

a) Are equally powerful android devices really cheaper?

b) Does Android have any form of 'policy' or 'corporate' control capability like IOS devices do?

I've not seen anybody talking about 'b' anywhere, but I honestly haven't been looking very hard.

According to the article the iPhone may have been chosen for the cool factor.