A few days ago, it was reported that Microsoft would pre install free office software for Windows 8 RT tablet under 10 inches. But it seems that such a move can not arouse the interest of PC manufacturers in producing more windows 8 RT tablets for them.
In the era of PC, windows and office are the two major businesses of Microsoft. According to Q3 financial report of fiscal year 2013 released by Microsoft on April 19, the revenue of the quarter was 20.49 billion US dollars, of which the revenue of office based business sector 2 was 6.32 billion US dollars, which is the first business.
In the field of mobile intelligent devices, especially in the tablet market, Microsoft has little place to stand. According to IDC data, in the first quarter of 2013, the volume of windows RT tablets, including Microsoft Surface RT, was only 200000, accounting for 0.4% of the total global tablet volume, while the share of all windows 8 tablets was only 3.3%.
As Tencent previously reported, windows RT has in fact been abandoned by most PC manufacturers. As we all know, Microsoft pre installed Office on win RT devices as early as the end of last year, so it can be seen that pre installation has no impact on the sales of devices.
With Intel announcing its fourth generation of core products at the Taipei Computer Show, PC makers will also be setting fire to a portable tablet with full-featured Windows 8. Microsoft also added fuel to the fire in due course, announcing that it will pre install Office on these tablets.
It's just that whether there is office is no longer the key factor for users to choose. They can easily find an alternative to office in the massive applications in the Apple App store and Google (Weibo) market -- and the powerful extension functions of office can't be well performed on the 'small screen + touch' devices.
Compared with blackberry, Microsoft is more tangled about whether it is free or open. This kind of tangle has dragged down Microsoft Office's performance in the tablet market. Unfortunately, Microsoft did not learn from the failure of BlackBerry BBM strategy, and its performance in the rapid change of mobile era is clumsy and slow. With the shrinking of traditional PC market, office business will inevitably decline gradually until it becomes a common business.