Microsoft’s sweet deal with Samsung soured by AT&T and Verizon
We reported late March a partnership between Microsoft and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd that consisted of the latter company’s agreement to pre-install Microsoft Office apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote), plus OneDrive and Skype, on Samsung’s Android tablets, as well as a previous agreement that entailed Samsung pre-installing OneNote, OneDrive and Skype on the new Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge Android smartphones.
It all looked quite cozy, and seemed like Microsoft getting one over on its nemesis Google Inc., but the deal has been somewhat diminished in value after reports stating that America’s two largest wireless carriers, AT&T and Verizon Wireless, have refused to pre-install all, and some, of the apps on the flagship Samsung S6. Verizon Wireless’s S6 won’t come with any of the apps, while AT&T’s S6 phones will have Skype and OneNote, but not OneDrive.
This might come as a blow to Microsoft who understands that having pre-installed apps on a phone generally means consumers will use those apps. It’s also a blow to the vision Microsoft has of putting its apps on every device.
In an article with the Walls Street Journal a spokesperson from Samsung said, “Cooperation between the two companies will result in bringing greater value to consumers through a wider choice of products and services,” yet the person declined to comment on why AT&T and Verizon Wireless refused to pre-install the apps. They did however point out that the apps were available as a download through Google Play, which hardly satiates our interest in the snub.
Following the announcement of the new partnership between Microsoft and Samsung both companies had said that the pre-installed apps “may vary on Samsung devices by region and channel”, although nothing was said about AT&T and Verizon Wireless, which, being the US’s biggest wireless carriers, is a pretty big deal.
Perhaps the move will be a positive to a lot of consumers who don’t want pre-installed apps (sometimes called bloatware) on their phones, and Samsung has been the focus of criticism in the past for overloading phones. With the Samsung S6 you can at least ‘hide’ the pre-installed apps, but they are still there in the background.
Photo credit: Samsung
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