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Microsoft Could Earn Billions From Office For iOS
Nerval's Lobster writes "Microsoft is leaving billions of dollars on the table by not porting Office to the iPad, according to a new analyst report. That analyst, Morgan Stanley's Adam Holt, believes that Office for iOS would sell to approximately 30 percent of all iPad users; priced at $60 per copy, that comes to a grand total of $2.5 billion per year — minus Apple's cut of the revenues, of course. But does Microsoft actually want Office for iOS out there? It's not necessarily in the company's best interest to rush such a platform to market, even if billions of dollars potentially hang in the balance — it's too busy pushing Office as a cloud-based, OS-agnostic platform. And Microsoft has another reason, aside from pushing the cloud version of Office, to de-emphasize the prospect of its productivity software on iOS: In a bid to draw more customers to its new hardware, Microsoft preloaded its Surface RT tablets with Office; offering the software on a rival touch-screen would take a major selling point off the table."
TFA is riddled with retarded assumptions. Too many times have I seen things like "I think 30% of all people would buy it", based on muddy facts or even no facts at all. GAAAH!
...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
Surely the proactive response is to market the current generation product, while synergising a coordinated strategy towards pushing market share towards the new market paradigm?
I just gagged a little writing that.
There are already office suites for iOS that can read Microsoft files, including one from Apple with cloud syncing and other "stuff". So what is it about Office that would attract iOS users? It cant be the Microsoft brand, its not going to be file compatibility, so what is it?
"Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
Didn't we just have a "Magic Numbers" article yesterday about how much OO is worth?
Think of the planet .. recycle the comments from the previous article:
OpenOffice: Worth $21 Million Per Day, If It Were Microsoft Office
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Microsoft would make a mistake by not providing some sort of native client for popular platforms. Accessing Office through a browser is fine for some but it requires a constant internet connection and can be less responsive than native code. If Microsoft forces iPad (and other tablet users) to use Office 365, they will be making a big usability sacrifice on behalf users that don't need or want it. Better to canibalize your own sales than to leave yourself exposed to competitors (ala iPod v. iPhone.)
I applaud Microsoft for this. Using Office as a stick to try to force people into buying a tablet they don't want is a much better strategy than selling Office to people who actually want to buy it.
No sig today...
Well, porting Office to iOS would potentially reduce the sale of Microsoft Surface. I reckon Microsoft want to have a firmer control of their users.
One of them is that someone would pay $60 for an iOS version of Microsoft office when there are capable software better suited for the iPad for around $10 per application and they are compatible with Office. Microsoft knows this and wisely licenses its file API instead of diminishing their brand.
These comments are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of my employer or colleagues...
We just switched from Open Office to MS Office 2010.
1 - It's generally more user-friendly for the tasks most of our users need to do
2 - It looks better, the interface is more aesthetic (surprisingly important when dealing with non-technical users)
3 - Easier to push out updates
4 - Better compatibility with outside vendors
5 - Better support
I had a little look at what office would cost me. £220($340) for the crippled version £389.99($605) for the full version. I have used LibreOffice(originally openoffice) and it even has advantages over Microsoft Office its not just bad value. Its insanely overpriced.
This would violate MS commandment #1; Thou shalt never do anything that could threaten the MS desktop monopoly.
Your observations do not reflect mine. I've stopped taking my laptop to and from work because I find that the tasks I want to do at home (browsing, email, and streaming video) are better suited to the iPad. I'd much rather wake the iPad (near-instant) than use the laptop which takes more than two seconds to wake from sleep (first-world problems). The iPad is far less awkward to use in a casual setting like a couch or big, comfy chair and is more comfortable to read on, too (I have several digital magazine subscriptions in Zinio.)
My father has replaced his laptop with an iPad, my mother and grandmother now rarely use their very capable desktop computers, and my tech support requests from all of them are almost non-existent.
In context to your quotes by the measure of a CEO its share value, Ballmer is doing an awful lot better than Cook
Have you actually looked at the stocks? Apple has gone from $7.50 in 2003 to over $464 at the time I write this. Microsoft's stock over the same period is essentially unchanged. It was around $25 in 2003 and still is. Cook has been in charge for roughly one year and the stock had a huge run up during that time but is now basically back to where it was when he started as CEO.
Frankly Tim Cook hasn't been on the job long enough to really tell how he is doing. We'll have a better idea in another year. Balmer has a long track record at this point and the price of MSFT has gone nowhere during his tenure. Why MSFT shareholders aren't calling for his head is something that eludes me.
Office-type applications will never be a good fit for tablets and smartphones. The applications are primarily used for content creation. The devices are primarily useful for content consumption, and suck at content creation in almost every conceivable way, starting with having tiny screens and having no fast, accurate way to input data.
If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
If Microsoft does not make Office software available on the platforms that people are using, those users will find other offerings. The document is not the king of the hill it once was. The more people use an alternative the less relevant the file type becomes. When the .doc .xls hegemony is broken then Windows and Office are directly less relevant. MS could push office all it wants, but if the world wants Linux or Mac or iOS or Android, office is no longer enough reason to change or shift platforms.
Better compatibility with outside vendors
This is utterly frustrating and totally true. I think having to purchase a ridiculously overpriced software in order to usefully send documents to each other is against humanity and detrimental to society. We should all be using an open format for documents - especially for future compatibility. Pages for Mac is exactly like this, too. :( I'm surprised this is not the number one reason you've moved to MSOffice though.
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