Posted by Unknown / Tuesday, June 14, 2016 / No comments / tech
Microsoft, Xiaomi Become Office Mates
Microsoft on Tuesday announced plans to sell
1,500 mobile technology patents to China-based Xiaomi, in a deal that will
expand both companies' access to new markets. Microsoft's office apps will gain a stronger foothold in
China, while Xiaomi's smartphones will gain a stronger global presence.
The agreement calls for Xiaomi to ship Microsoft Office and
Skype on its Android smartphones and tablets, which are among the leading
brands in China and India, as well as in other global markets.
Microsoft Office applications -- including Word, Excel,
PowerPoint and Outlook -- and Skype will come preloaded on Xiaomi's
Android-powered Mi 5, Mi Max, Mi 4s, Redmi Note and Redmi 3, starting in
September.
The deal builds upon an existing relationship between the
companies that put Windows 10 on the Mi Pad and Microsoft Azure on the Mi Cloud
service. Xiaomi, founded in 2010 by Lei Jun, has grown to become one of the
world's leading mobile phone makers. It has expanded rapidly into emerging
Asian markets, like India, where it recently launched the Redmi Note 3.
Xiaomi rose to become the world's fifth-largest mobile
phone maker during the fourth quarter of 2015, with 18.2 million shipments, or
4.6 percent of the market, according to IDC.
"Xiaomi needs patents for international expansion
outside of China and this is a great buy," said Ryan Reith, program vice
president for the mobile device tracker suite at IDC. "It likely won't
solve all of their problems, but they have been quietly buying up patents for
quite some time now, so my guess is that they are getting well
positioned. "The agreement comes just weeks after Xiaomi launched its
first product in the U.S., a 4K version of its Mi Box, which runs on the
Android TV platform.
For Microsoft, the move comes just weeks after it sold off
the majority of the mobile phone businesses it acquired from Nokia in 2013.
Microsoft sold its feature phone business to Hon
Hai/Foxconn unit FIH Mobile and HMD Global Oy in early May and later announced
plans to slash 1,850 jobs and take a US$950 million charge related to severance
payments. The move left Microsoft in need of additional mobile
devices to carry its apps, Reith said. "The move for them in mobile is to
get as many of their services on as many devices as quick as possible."
One facet of the strategy underlying the patent deal has to
do with Xiaomi's base of customers, who are far younger than the demographic
that previously has been interested in Microsoft products, noted Ian Fogg, who
leads mobile analysis at IHIS TECHNOLOGY.
The office apps market in China has been led by Kingsoft.
Xiaomi last year agreed to buy a 3 percent stake in Kingsoft from Tencent.
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