Today, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) CEO Satya Nadella announced a new cloud and mobile strategy including full Office for iPad support. The app, which was also launched today, includes individual apps for Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. A report from Evercore by analysts Kirk Materne, Ginette Rowe and Matthew L. Williams on March 26th 2014 speculates that the company could also announce Office for other platforms like Android.
A special event for Microsoft CEO
Analysts have calculated that Office 365’s annual subscription price could add around $2 billion in market opportunity in 2014. The calculations assume a 15% attach rate to non-Windows tablets at $50. Apart from the launch of Office, analysts expect Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) to reveal more details on the enterprise mobility management offerings.
The event is also special because it will be the first public appearance by new CEO Satya Nadella. Office for iPad is the biggest announcement from Nadella as it marks the shift of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) into the mobile era.
In the invitation sent last week, Microsoft said that the event will be “focused on the intersection of cloud and mobile computing.” Experts and analysts believe that an Office suite for iPad would perfectly complement the products launched by Nadella in his first few weeks as the CEO. Also, the move would silence the critics who have been dogging the company for reacting slowly in the mobile segment.
Mobile device management a good area to pursue
Presently, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is witnessing robust momentum in their enterprise portfolio, and analysts believe the company could accelerate growth in similar areas including analytics, development platforms, and enterprise mobility management by adopting M&A or forging new partnerships.
According to analysts Power BI on Azure may be viewed as a good opportunity for Microsoft in analytics market. Gaining stronger presence in the mobile device management could be the right move from the software giant as the company already holds a strong position in Cloud services for file sharing (OneDrive) and enterprise content management (SharePoint on Azure).
Today’s event comes just days before the Microsoft’s developer conference, Build on April 2. During the event, Microsoft is believed to be coming out with a Windows update, and Nokia is expected to reveal many new devices.
Evercore analysts have an Overweight rating on Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) with a price target of $45.
