Soon after the acquisition of Silicon Valley startup Meebo this week, in an effort expand its Google Plus service for social networking, the world's biggest search engine Google on May 5 announced that it had also acquired Quickoffice, the mobile productivity software suite most popularly known for its Android and iOS document-editing applications.
Commenting on the inked deal, Google engineering director Alan Warren wrote in a company blog post, "Quickoffice has a strong base of users, and we look forward to supporting them while we work on an even more seamless, intuitive and integrated experience."
Quickoffice Acquisiton - Worth or Not?
It can be easily assumed that with the latest acquisition, Google is escalating its competition with Microsoft to next level. Reason being that Quickoffice is a widely used mobile application for working on documents created in Microsoft's programs for word processing, spreadsheets and presentations and it would be a commendable profit gainer for Google.
Supporting this thought, Forrester Research analyst Ted Schadler said Google's online applications don't interact well with Microsoft Office files on mobile devices, a shortcoming that Quickoffice presumably will address. Also, Schadler expects Google to add features to the Quickoffice app so it can sync with work done through Google Apps on office and home computers.
The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Also right now, it is still unclear how Google will integrate Quickoffice into its product portfolio. However, Google's blog post hints at further Google app integration, "We'll be working on bringing their powerful technology to our Apps product suite," Warren wrote.
Industry analysts too have predicted that Google's native productivity applications make their way to mobile. At the same time, one of the best features of Quickoffice -- it is installed on more than 300 million devices in more than 180 countries, which is its ability to open and create documents in almost any kind of format, making them accessible for any kind of device or computer via the cloud (Google Drive).
This technology could be extremely useful for Google's applications like Google Docs, so users can create documents in any format, on a Mac or a PC, which can be opened on mobile and desktop computers of any kind. Hence, the acquisition of Quickoffice puts Google in a prime position to create better mobile software, particularly for enterprise users that need professional features like encryption and editing.
Threat to Microsoft?
Google has been trying to tap customers from Microsoft lucrative Office software franchise for years. Buying Quickoffice's technology will give Google another means to undercut the usage of Microsoft programs as more people get their work done on smartphones and tablet computers.
Analysts also suggest that Windows 8 tablets are on the horizon and the OS would definitely require an Office software which will be an important element of what makes the tablet sell in the enterprise.
On this, ZDNet's Larry Dignan noted in his report, on what Google should have said, "We have acquired Quickoffice as a nice offensive against Microsoft before it goes mobile happy with Office. We think we can integrate Apps and Quickoffice before Microsoft launches its mobile assault."
By expanding the tablet distribution of Quickoffice, Google could give consumers and businesses one fewer reason to buy a product running on Microsoft's operating system.
Alan Masarek, CEO and co-founder of Quickoffice, thanked his users and supporters on the Quickoffice blog while airing his enthusiasm about the acquisition. Quickoffice is based in Plano, Texas, and employs about 400 people.
On the other hand, Google, which is based in California, ended March with more than 33,000 employees. The company picked up another 20,000 workers last month when it completed a $12.5 billion acquisition of cellphone maker Motorola Mobility.
At the same time, Microsoft has been widely rumored to be building an Office app designed for the iPad, by far the top-selling tablet computer with more than 67 million of the devices sold during its first two years of the market. Microsoft so far has declined these rumors. However, it these come out to be true, then Google would be able to offer a rival product that conceivably could be sold at a lower price.
Meanwhile, the folks on Wired.com have also reported that when Microsoft was asked to comment on Google's Quickoffice acquisition, Microsoft went into attack mode and stated, "Google Apps require compromise and don't meet the productivity needs of most people and businesses. Google's primary focus is advertising so it's not surprising that they are trying to address the limitations of Google Apps through acquisition. Office Mobile provides a great, native experience that enables people to do the things that matter most."
