Microsoft reported that 12 million copies of Office for iPad have been downloaded during the first week it was offered, but the company did not say how many of these people also paid for an Office 365 subscription, which is needed to manipulate the software.
In late March Microsoft made Office for iPad a free download from the iTunes store, this gives the customer read-only copies of Word, Excel and PowerPoint. If users want to add editing capability they must pay either a monthly or yearly subscription.
The software giant broke the news via a tweet on its corporate website.
"More than 12 million downloads of Word, Excel, PPT & OneNote for #iPad from the @AppStore<3 #OfficeforiPad," was tweeted.
However, there was glaring omission in the tweet. Microsoft did not say how many people also went for the an Office 365 subscription. All the company would say on the issue is it was pleased with the consumer level of interest so far.
Until Microsoft decides to directly divulge these numbers it will be hard to discern exactly what is going on with the app. It could be that iPad owners are merely curious how Office looks on their device or these people could be interested in turning their tablet into a productivity tool.
Taking the next step in not an inexpensive proposition. Subscribing to Office 365 is $99 per year or $9.99 per month for the Home Premium version. For this price, the subscriber is given enough licenses to equip five PCs or Macs plus five tablets.
There are also three distinct plans for businesses that start at $5 per month or $60 per year for up to 25 users. For this price, a company gets business-class email, online conferencing, public website, file storage and sharing and office online. The step-up program is $12.50 per month or $150 per year and adds access to the desktop versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and several other titles. The flagship program requires a one-year contract and costs $15 per month, but can be used by up to 300 people and it adds Active Directory integration self-service business intelligence.
