Tim Cook welcomes Office to the App Store, but questions the strategy behind its long delay

Apple released its fiscal second quarter earnings on Wednesday, which means that CEO Tim Cook got to answer a ton of questions from analysts. With iPad sales in the quarter disappointing Wall Street, the tablet was the subject of a number of analysts' questions. One of the questions was about the recently launched Microsoft Office suite for the Apple iPad. Microsoft had kept the software away from the iPad so that its Microsoft Surface slates could have an advantage over Apple's tablets.

Cook called Office "a key franchise," and welcomed Microsoft to the App Store. The executive also called it a "good thing" for the iPad in the enterprise. But Cook also questioned Microsoft's strategy. "If it had been done earlier, it would’ve been better for Microsoft frankly," the CEO said. One analyst earlier this year, said that the Redmond based company was losing $2.5 billion a year in revenue by keeping the Office suite away from the iPad.

While the Microsoft Office Suite is a free download from the App Store, it only allows users to view older documents and make presentations. To do the fun stuff, like editing older documents and creating new ones, Apple iPad users will need a subscription to Office 365. Microsoft has just released a personal version of Office 365 for $69. That includes 20GB of SkyDrive cloud storage and 60 minutes of free Skype calls. The $99 version of Office 365 brings support for up to five iPads.

source: TechCrunch