Microsoft to partner with Tecno and other device manufacturers to bring MS productivity apps to more devices

Microsoft VP for Business Development Peggy Johnson announced a series of partnerships with multiple device manufacturers and OEM’s to bring a host of Microsoft productivity apps to more devices and people across the world. Microsoft has partnered with 11 hardware partners across the world who will later this year ship devices with Microsoft productivity apps pre installed. Among the many manufacturers was the Afrocentric Tecno that has captured a decent share of the African smartphone market.

First and foremost was the partnership with Samsung which will see the device manufacturer pre-install Microsoft services and apps on its portfolio of Android devices to deliver secured mobile productivity for businesses through a new Microsoft Office 365 and Samsung KNOX Business Pack

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Samsung will pre-install OneNote, OneDrive and Skype on the new Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge. While select Samsung tablets will come with Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, OneDrive and Skype in the first half of 2015.

We’ve proven that we’re not afraid to look outside ourselves to reinvent ourselves.  We’ve received fantastic customer feedback for making Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, OneDrive and Skype available across all platforms. But, we’re far from done. Now we see an opportunity to turn our focus to our device partners — easing mobile access to great apps and services for customers by pre-installing them directly on the device.

This is part of the company’s mobile-first, cloud-first vision addressing consumer demand for top services by making them already available on a device, instead of requiring consumers to download them separately. This strategy will see users enjoying MS apps on any platform be it iOS, Android, Blackberry or Windows itself.

This is also a huge validation for Tecno as a brand. Tecno has been dealing with the perception that they are a cheap chinese manufacturer that does not make durable smartphones. Microsoft definitely wouldn’t have partnered with the latter. We shall be waiting for the next Tecno flagships shipping with up to date Microsoft apps.

 

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