Microsoft Office Arrives On iPhone, But Not iPad

You can now access the Microsoft Office software suite on your Apple iPhone. However, Microsoft doesn't appear to have any plans to extend that support to Apple's iPad tablet computer.

Starting late last week Microsoft made Office Mobile for iPhone available through Apple's app store. A subscription costs $100 per year and gives users access to the cloud-focused Office 365.

Excel, Word, PowerPoint Now Available to iPhone Users

Using the new Office 365 app, iPhone users can create, read, and edit Word documents and Excel spreadsheets. They can also create slide presentations using PowerPoint.

Microsoft says documents, spreadsheets, and presentations created using the new iPhone app will sync automatically using Microsoft's own SkyDrive cloud storage service. (Source: pcmag.com)

Many analysts believe this marks an important event. For one, it will allow Microsoft to sell its product to the massive iPhone user base. Apple will also benefit because Office remains an extremely popular app, particularly in the business community.

Office for iPad Not Expected Any Day Soon

However, experts are also disappointed that Microsoft stopped short of extending access to Office to iPad users.

"The nature of the Office suite, being productivity-focused, makes it better suited for a larger mobile screen," noted Edward Jones analyst, Josh Olson. (Source: abcnews.com)

The reason you won't find Office on an iPad is tied to Microsoft's ongoing attempt to make its Surface tablet computer more attractive to consumers.

With Office still not available for iPad, the Surface certainly has some appeal.

Olson says it's highly unlikely we'll see Microsoft release a version of Office for the iPad until Surface gains a foothold in the increasingly competitive tablet market.

In an attempt to give iPad users a viable alternative to Office, Apple is reportedly overhauling iWork, which provides many of the same types of tools found in Microsoft's software package.

While Office Mobile for iPhone is available right now in the U.S., residents of other countries may have to wait a few days or weeks to gain access to the download.