Microsoft has broadened a previously announced agreement with Samsung to preinstall its software on the latter firm’s hardware it announced today, and landed nearly a dozen separate, similar arrangements with other OEMs including Dell.
As a company, Microsoft is pursuing an increasingly cross-platform software strategy, one in which it is content to ensure that its applications are suited for rival platforms, such as Android.
Microsoft’s deal with Samsung will expand the firms’ prior arrangement to preinstall OneNote, OneDrive and Skype on the Galaxy S6 handset to include the installation of the Office suite itself on the company’s Android tablets, starting in the first half of 2015.
TechCrunch spoke to Peggy Johnson, Microsoft’s Executive Vice President of Business Development, who declined to disclose the financial terms of the agreements, but did note that each firm is able to decide which of its hardware will be shipped with Word, Excel and PowerPoint, among other applications.
Microsoft is in the tail end of an update cycle for Office, shipping new mobile software on a rolling cadence, while promising new desktop apps for both Windows and Mac this year. Microsoft’s decision to release Office for iOS and Android has been successful for the company, accreting tens of millions of downloads, and boosting the software company’s mobile penetration.
While Microsoft has not given up on its own mobile platform, today’s deals will see the company quickly expand mobile market share of its apps that are an expanding source of recurring revenue. Not a bad deal.
