It is clear that Microsoft is still on its course of world domination. Or else, how can you explain giving Microsoft Office for free? Hitherto, using Word, Excel and Powerpoint on iPhone, iPad and Android devices required a subscription to Office 365, starting at $70 per year. Now according to recent blog post, Office users will be able to create and edit documents on the Office applications for free.
This move comes just days after Microsoft and Dropbox announced their partnership to integrate Microsoft Office with the cloud-storage platform more closely.
According to The New York Times, this suite of applications generated nearly a third of Microsoft’s revenue during its last fiscal year — about $26 billion of $87 billion in total. So is it taking a big risk making it free?
This may not be so, according to Michael Atalla, Microsoft’s head of Office marketing. According to his explanation on The Verge, “It’s an extension of the strategy that we’ve got. It’s not a total strategic shift, as much of an extension of the existing strategy.”
The free versions of Office for iPhone and iPad are now available however the Android version is available as a preview and will get a full release in 2015.
The company will, however, continue to charge for access to Office on laptops and desktops and will make some features on the mobile apps only accessible to premium users. And Enterprise customers will still have to pay as well.
Microsoft made Office available on iPad early this year in March
