Microsoft has always been a monopoly in office software market. Although google and apple both have similar products, they still can’t provide something that can replace Microsoft Office, some of Office’s core function like solver still remain exclusive. What’s more, Office still has the control of general documents formats, such as .doc and .ppt.

To me, I am one of the subscription customers of Office 365, Microsoft’s offer infuriates us. Because we feel that part of our subscription fee is paid for free products and services. But on the other hand, to those without full subscription, this is quite a sweet offer. By providing free Office mobile apps, Microsoft can attract new consumers and implement price discrimination among its customer segment, divide customers into different groups, each charged with the highest acceptable price to maximize profit.

In addition, I doubt the effectiveness of this predatory monopolistic strategy. Because it is so inconvenient to use office app on small-sized devices such as smartphones and small tablets. My analysis shows that a discount on Surface would have better outcome because once consumers purchase a Microsoft hardware, they will automatically stick to Microsoft software. Microsoft should create a whole ecosystem including hardware of all size, software with all purpose and online cloud services, build great customer loyalty to maintain its monopolistic power in IT market.

Source: http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/11/06/microsoft-gives-away-office-365-mobile-apps-in-a-bid-for-more-users/?KEYWORDS=Shira+Ovide