Is Microsoft about to jump into bed with iOS.Microsoft’s new CEO Satya Nadella is said to make an announcement relating to the release of Office for iPad on March 27, a source told Reuters.
The Office suite for iPad is believed to include Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and require a Micrososoft Office 365 subscription, according to reports. Microsoft already released OneNote client for Mac OS X this week.
The company briefing to take place in San Francisco next week is “focused on the intersection of cloud and mobile computing,” according to Re/code.
Microsoft is to host annual Built conference for developers the week after, from 2-4 April.
The news comes as the PC market contracts globally by 10% last year, meaning the software giant needs to find new avenues of growth, in order to expand its user base.
Analysts IDC expects shipments of desktops and notebooks to fall by 6% in 2014 and decline through to 2018. Analysts estimate Microsoft loses out on some $2.5 billion sales per year by keeping Office out of reach from iPad users.
Apple sold 26 million iPads in the three months last year from October-December alone, and many use it for work as well as leisure.
As he took the top job at Microsoft last month, Nadella admitted he has a major task ahead, in “a software-powered world”, adding “the opportunity ahead for Microsoft is vast, but to seize it, we must focus clearly, move faster and continue to transform.”
Maybe this is phase 1 of Redmond’s transformation.
