Surface, Microsoft’s new tablet, comes with Office. Photo: Ariel Zambelich/Wired
Many folks assessing the potential success of Microsoft’s mobile chip-friendly Windows RT cite the inclusion of Office as key to its appeal. A freebie is one thing, but what if Apple iOS and Android devices all had Office apps?
Computerworld blogger Preston Gralla writes:
The Verge has what it claims to be a screenshot of Office running on the iPad, and reports that Office will be released for iOS and Android in early 2013. It says that the free version of Office on iOS and Android will only provide the ability to view Office files, but that with a subscription fee for Office 365, you will be able to edit them as well.
This will clearly help Microsoft on competing tablet and smartphone platforms. But it also may harm the company’s hopes to gain market share for Windows 8 and RT tablets, and for Windows Phone 8.
Windows RT tablets ship with a free version of Office as does Windows Phone 8. That gives those platforms some competitive advantage over iOS and Android smartphone and tablets. Today, if you want Office on a tablet or smartphone, you’ve got to buy a device that runs on a platform from Microsoft. But by early next year, if the Verge report is accurate, you’ll be able to get Office on a device that runs on competing platforms.
So it seems that, should the report be right and it does seem something Microsoft is going to need to gamble on, that competitive advantage for Windows RT tablets, including Microsoft’s Surface, would be gone.
Gralla argues that robbing from Microsoft’s tablet (Windows RT) and mobile device share (Windows Phone 8) to pay for Office gains on rival platforms is “a very good move for Microsoft, and a recognition that its future is beyond Windows.â€
Windows is no longer Microsoft’s main cash cow. Its most recent earnings report shows that the Windows division’s net income was down 22% and revenue down 8% compared to a year previous. Its revenue of $3.24 billion trailed the Business Division’s revenue of $5.5 billion and the Server and Tools business of $4.55 billion.
Join the conversation in comments or the forum thread below: Will making Office available for iOS and Android devices pay off for Microsoft in the long term? What about Microsoft tablet and mobile device market share â€" will they thrive on their own?
Many folks assessing the potential success of Microsoft's mobile chip-friendly Windows RT cite the inclusion of Office as key to its appeal. A freebie is one thing, but what if Apple iOS and Android devices all had equivalent Microsoft Office apps?
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