An Agonizing Decision for Microsoft: Office 2013 Apps for iPad, Android?

Microsoft faces an agonizing decision within the next few weeks to months, that is, whether to release Office 2013 on the iPad and Android-based tablets.

In an interview with Bloomberg earlier this week, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer had no comment on whether or when Office 2013 would be made available on the iPad and Android tablets. He simply made a blithe reference to Office accessibility through the Web on these platforms. He said;

I have nothing to say on that topic. We’re very glad with the product, very happy with the product that we’re putting in market. It makes sense on the devices like the Mac and the PC. We have a product that we think makes a lot of sense. We do have a way for people always to get to Office through the browser, which is very important. And we’ll see what we see in the future.

However, this is a hugely important decision for Microsoft to make and the decision must come soon.  It is also a decision that will likely end up sacrificing one or more of their main lines of business… and perhaps some OEM relationships…. [continued]

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