Samsung Galaxy S6 ships with pre-installed Microsoft apps

Mar 3, 2015 15:30 GMT  ·  By
Samsung Galaxy S6 is the first Android phone to ship with pre-installed Microsoft apps
   Samsung Galaxy S6 is the first Android phone to ship with pre-installed Microsoft apps

In its struggle to become a more relevant devices and services company, Microsoft has apparently signed deals with Samsung and possibly other Android device manufacturers, to pre-install its software on a number of phones and tablets that would hit the market in the coming months.

Samsung was the first company to confirm at MWC 2015 that its new Galaxy S6 would ship with such software, while hours after that, Sony revealed that its new Xperia Z4 tablet would also include a pre-installed version of Office for Android.

Basically, this should be a win-win deal for both Microsoft and the company it signed a deal with because this way the software giant would benefit from additional exposure, while the device manufacturer would provide its customers with powerful apps designed by one of the top companies in this side of the industry.

But in reality, offering pre-installed apps on Android devices is a risky business and Microsoft would be the first to be impacted if these apps are not properly received. And it's all because of a concept that Microsoft itself has been fighting for years: junkware.

What if nobody uses these apps?

On Samsung Galaxy S6, customers will get from the very beginning Microsoft's OneNote note-taking app, as well as OneDrive, and Skype, all of which are placed in a little folder called “Microsoft apps” on each phone. Additionally, buyers can download mobile Office apps for Android from the Play store when they become available.

Sony, on the other hand, will be offering Word, Excel, and PowerPoint on all Xperia Z4 tablets, so users would benefit from additional productivity power on the go.

But there's something that could make all these apps useless on Android devices.

Android users love Google's products. Microsoft's? Not so much.

First, Android devices, and the Samsung Galaxy S6 specifically, come with all Google apps pre-installed as well, which means that Microsoft and Google will fight for the very same category of users on the same device. Android customers, on the other hand, are already very familiar with Google's products and long-time users are more likely to stick with Google than to switch completely to Microsoft.

Redmond is trying to bring more users on board with all kinds of offers, including more than 100 GB of OneDrive storage for S6 buyers, but this remains a tricky plan. If users don't fall for Microsoft's offers, the number of people who keep its apps on their devices could be very small, so OneDrive, OneNote, and Skype could easily become the junkware that everyone hates these days.

“Show 'em what they're missing”

Just like all the other unwanted pre-installed apps, Microsoft's solutions can be easily removed, but in Redmond's opinion, you should at least give them a try before anything else.

Basically, the software giant is taking a long shot with this, as it hopes to convert Android users and bring them into its own yard. The company hopes that, by offering its own products to Android buyers, some might get excited about the idea of having them fully integrated into the operating system, so they could go as far as to switch to Windows Phone.

Needless to say, those on Windows Phone would have several benefits (although the company has proven otherwise in the very last months), but with the work that's undergoing right now on Windows 10, Microsoft appears to be up for a much more ambitious project for its mobile platform.