We all know Android and iOS dominate the smartphone market with Microsoft's Windows Phone coming in at a
distant third. To counter that, the new strategy for Satya Nadella's Microsoft is reaching out to all these users with their apps and services.
The Redmond giant announced today that they have roped-in Acer to pre-install Microsoft apps on their devices. Some of the other names on this list include major industry heavyweights like Samsung, Sony and LG. Then there's Cyanogen OS as well which comes pre-installed with Microsoft apps.
If we come to what this actually entails, well, devices from these 74 manufacturers will come pre-installed with some of these apps, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, OneDrive and Skype. Now, from the consumer standpoint, all of these are useful apps and many of us would be using these even if they didn't come pre-installed.
For Microsoft, this is a chance to get more customers. This is not a ploy to convert users to Windows Phone, but to sell them Microsoft's own services, like their integrated cloud platform with Office 365 and OneDrive.
This is the new, more open Microsoft. A company that is not playing catch-up anymore, but leveraging everything it has to get ahead in the mobile space. Windows Phone is already on its last legs, and its prudent for the company to employ those resources into making its services stand out.
Microsoft's online suite of Office apps is quite rich in features but lags behind in usability. There's no real incentive for users to leverage OneDrive's potential with Microsoft's connected ecosystem. But with pre-installed apps, some free storage and deeper integration within these apps, we may see a switch.
