TechDomino
It seems Google is getting ready to launch a new version of QuickOffice, not just on Android, but also in the browser, that could pose a real threat to Microsft Office.
There are still people out there who say “but this still doesn’t have all the features Office has!” and so on. But I believe they’re really missing the point. When a disruptive tech becomes “good enough” for most users, it will make the old “full featured”/more expensive one obsolete.
Does QuickOffice need the 1000th feature MS Office has? No. It just needs most features that most people use. And with a much better price, they can easily affect Microsoft’s business in the long term. At the very least it will force Microsoft to sell Office for a much lower price, which still isn’t good for Microsoft, either.
Plus, there will be QuickOffice for Android and a QuickOffice iPhone and iPad app, too. Microsoft doesn’t intend to release Office on these platforms, or at least not anytime soon, and they are only going to allow access to Office Web Apps, which being web apps should work in the browser anyway.
QuickOffice can create one of the two inescapable problems for Microsoft Office. The first one and the most dangerous one is that it will simply start “stealing” customers away from MS Office, because it will be a simpler solution, one that runs on the web and also on the most popular mobile platforms, and it’s also cheaper.
The second one, a little less dangerous for Microsoft, but still very bad, is that it creates just enough competition for them that it forces Microsoft to drop the prices on MS Office, which also isn’t good for Microsoft’s cash cow.
The new version of QuickOffice should arrive soon. I was expecting it at Google I/O, but they might be planning to release it at another event this summer, or in fall, if they decide to wait until Android 5.0.
[Via ReadWrite]
