Office for iOS and Android has been delayed until the fall of 2014, according to a report on ARS Techica. The Android equivalent for Office is also delayed according to the leak. Office would be the latest version of the popular application from Microsoft, however at this time the app has not be confirmed to even exist, yet alone announced or given a release date.
It appears the delay might be caused by problems over pricing. Microsoft has been looking to shift Office to a subscription-based format, where users would possibly pay a monthly fee for the service. Microsoft may be unwilling to give 30% of their profits from such an app to Apple for the iOS version of the program. In addition, such problems would prevent any version of the future Office app from appearing on Apple Devices, such as a read-only option for the app, or one that would allow certain other Office features to become available after a one time fee.
The Android version may have concerns over people buying the application, period, due to Android users being less willing to spend money on apps. Microsoft may be worried about how well a version of Office would in terms of sales, and not necessarily any sort of technical or right issue.
These problems may be moot, due to the host of free options people now have concerning similar software, such as Google Drive. But still, Microsoft will have 18 months to determine a course of action about Office, whether they decide to put it out on iOS or Android devices. Now that there is more options available to consumers, Microsoft should instead focus less on trying to cash in on the familiarity the Office brand brings to the table, and more on making this future version of Office (if it indeed comes out) as unique as possible to entice users into buying the product
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