Samsung, Dell, and more Android device makers to pre-install Microsoft apps
Samsung has announced that it will be pre-installing Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, OneDrive, and Skype on select Samsung Android tablets this year. And it isn't the only Android OEM to do that.
This past February, Samsung and Microsoft ended their contract dispute in the U.S. court as well as the ICC arbitration. While the terms of the agreement are kept confidential, there’s no doubt that both parties have since been working closer together, as it was recently revealed that the upcoming Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge would have several Microsoft apps - OneDrive, OneNote, and Skype - pre-installed. In addition, buyers are also getting additional 100GB of OneDrive storage for free for two years.
Now, Samsung has announced that it would be pre-installing Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, OneDrive, and Skype on select Samsung Android tablets in the first half of 2015. Business customers stand to gain too, as devices bought through Samsung’s business-to-business sales channels will have access to three versions of Office 365 - Business, Business Premium, and Enterprise - paired with Samsung’s Knox security solution. The bundle also comes with a setup and support service from Samsung.
Dell and 10 other hardware makers too!
But Samsung isn’t the only one to have such an agreement with Microsoft. In a blog post, Microsoft has revealed that it has “expanded strategic agreements” with Dell, TrekStor of Germany, JP Sa Couto of Portugal, Datamatic of Italy, DEXP of Russia, Hipstreet of Canada, QMobile of Pakistan, Tecno of Africa, Casper of Turkey, and Pegatron to pre-install Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, OneDrive, and Skype on their Android devices coming to market later this year.
The latest agreements are further examples of Microsoft’s “mobile and cloud-first” strategy. In the past 12 months, we saw Office landing on the iPad and Android, its extention to Dropbox, and third-party apps like Acompli and Sunrise being acquired to supplement its Android and iOS offerings. And just earlier this month, a preview version of Office 2016 for Mac has dropped for long-suffering Office for Mac 2011 users.
Microsoft's Windows Phone may not be everywhere, but it sure looks like its software and services are going to be.
Source: Samsung, Microsoft (1, 2).
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