Honza Dvorsky As a trifle today, Apple when introducing a new iPhone 5S a 5C mentioned that the iWork office suite and part of the iLife suite will be free for iOS. At least for devices newly purchased with iOS 7. The previous price of iWork (Pages, Numbers, Keynote) was $9,99 each, or $4,99 in iLife (iMovie, iPhoto). A special feature is Garageband for iOS, which was not mentioned, but is part of the iLife suite. So it looks like Apple will only keep Garageband paid in the App Store.
The move to give free iWork to every iOS device is perfectly logical. If we take an iPhone that costs Apple $649 - and knowing that the margin on iPhones is around 50% - we know that Apple makes a net profit of somewhere around $300-350 apiece. By discounting the aforementioned applications, Apple theoretically loses 3 x $9,99 (iWork) + 2 x $4,99 (part of iLife) = less than $40. This is assuming that each user has their first iOS device and has purchased all of the mentioned apps. There are very few such customers.
However, it is enough for one out of five people thinking about buying an iOS device to be convinced based on an argument in the style - "it already has a simple Office at the time of purchase" and it will immediately pay off for Apple. Such a lured user will spend on apps and other iOS devices for several years. And the more he uses his device, the more likely he is to stay in the ecosystem. The discount is therefore Apple's attempt to motivate people to use their iOS devices as much as possible. And a greater amount of quality software already present at the time of purchase will undoubtedly have this effect.
Another factor is that a large number of people have never heard of iWork. They only know the standard applications installed upon purchase and then what they discover and recommend to them. By expanding the 'core' functions of each iOS iron, Apple is increasing people's general awareness of the capabilities of these 'post-PC' tools.
Together with this move to get iWork into the hands of as many people as possible, the release of (still a beta version) iWork pro corresponds iCloud. Apple realized that web services must be free if they are to attract large numbers of users. And unlike Google, which makes money from advertising on every user, Apple gets money from the customer just by buying hardware from Apple. So the services must be (and should have been) free from the beginning. I dare to say that if Apple wants to further expand its scope, iCloud should also offer free up to about 100 GB. The current 5GB, in my opinion, only acts as a brake to use iCloud for everything - which only causes one to use it for nothing.
Apple certainly also wants to underline the stool of Microsoft, which is about to bring its Office to iOS. And until now he was laughing at them that they had nothing to create.
not to mention open/libre office, google variant, etc.. I think it's just a logical step .. but the icloud could be enlarged
clearly. MS Office, even though everyone knows that it will be just a label for something completely different than MS Office for Win, for any amount, will be a strong competitor to iWork at any fraction of the price. So if I want to compete at least a little bit, it has to be FREE. So a less proficient person is more likely to work on MS Office than on iWork, that's what they've been hearing for 20 years.
In my opinion, the file is fighting with Google. To tell the truth, Microsoft is declining in relevance for future development, according to them there is not much going on anymore.
And the way to fight well with Google is right in the field of free services. The combination of iWork with 100GB of free iCloud, beautifully integrated into every iOSX device, can do a lot of damage to Google, just like FaceTime does on iOS Skype. Free + integrate = competition on girls.
I'd rather not talk about those margins. On the financial side, it is one of the most secret things of companies. So basing this analysis on a finger-sucking margin is quite misleading.
Analysis by Horace Dediu: http://www.asymco.com/2013/04/25/margin-call-2/
I myself have internal information from this area, and I can only completely agree with this opinion.
What? How often do you watch Apple's quarterly financial results? This information is public.
As far as I know, only the gross margin is disclosed, which can be quite misleading. In addition, it was now around 36% in July.
When I buy a new iPhone, I will have iWork for free. I understand. Will I have them on the old iPad next? Will it be tied to the apple id or the device? And by the way, it won't work for free on my iPad?
In theory, it should be tied to Apple ID, i.e. in theory, it should also work on older iPads. But let us be surprised.
In my opinion, it is only an initial initialization, when Apple assigns the given software to the Apple ID ... if the device (according to the SN) meets the conditions, it will be assigned to the Apple ID iWork + iLife ... these can then be installed on older devices under the same Apple ID as before (you have already paid for the purchase of a new Apple device).
That's exactly how I think it will work.
Well, it won't be very free. When the package comes out to 36 euros in total, but the iPhone was about 50 euros more in price :)
So what if I put iOS 5 on my iPhone 7, I don't get it for free? That's nonsense isn't it?
Unfortunately it's not. Only with new iOS devices.
So I'm curious how this will turn out. I have a lot of questions already. E.g. I will buy iP5s, activate iWork. Malfunction or fall apart I'll go back to the iP5. Will iWork still be accessible? If so, then as Apple insists that I don't borrow an iPhone from a friend, which I assign to my account for an hour, download iWork, will it remain functional even after changing it again to an older type of iP? Someone already wrote about the new iPhone and the older iPad in an older post.
This is not a step in the right direction. That's exactly the "simplicity" I wouldn't expect from Apple. I hope it was just lost in translation or poorly explained at the keynote.
Wait, there's one thing we need to clear up first. All iTunes purchases are associated with an Apple ID, not a device. Thus, if you buy a new iOS device and activate it with your Apple ID, from that moment on your Apple ID has 'purchased' all the applications that came with the new device. Therefore, if you then switch to any other device, log in your Apple ID there, so of course you can download these products for free and repeatedly.
For example, I have downloaded applications on my iPhone from other Apple IDs, some with my friend's and some with my friend's, and everything works fine. Of course, if you want to have an application installed from your friend's Apple ID, you will need his password every time this application wants to be updated.
This has been the practice for years, on the contrary, Apple has not changed anything with this step - everything is the same.
I mean, I'll borrow an iP5s from a friend, deregister the iP5s from the friend's ID and factory reset. I will assign it to my ID when I activate again. It makes iWork available to me. Then I log out again, similarly I return the iP5s back to my friend and I log in under my ID on the old iPhone. Will iWork look "purchased"?
Now one more thing but I'm really on thin ice here and this is based on my not so perfect knowledge of factory reset iOS devices (I could talk about another system :-)) if I flash iOS 5 to the iP7 I will factory reset and unregister from my ID, will it look like a new device with iOS and therefore with iWork when I log in again with my ID?
I missed the 7 in the last sentence, so the sentence reads: ...will it look like a new device with iOS7 and therefore with iWork when I log in again to my ID?
It won't happen, because Apple knows that the iP5 is not a new device, as it is no longer in the offer :-)
Not important... every device has its own SN, according to which Apple can easily find out when it was manufactured and whether it is covered by the payment promotion from a certain date.
I can't see exactly, but it should work like the Find My iPhone activation used to when it was free with new devices. At that time, I lost my email ID just from my name :-(
Well, it's probably better to wait a week. But I have to say that this procedure would annoy me. I considered Apple to be one company that thinks about existing customers within the framework of HW possibilities.
Apple is thinking about its customers... if it generates or can generate more profits in the future.
You (and I) belong to the second group, when you generate profits by buying a new iPhone .. .and for that, apple "rewards" you with iWork and iLife for free (if you don't already have the same purchases like me).
I doubt it, in my opinion this automatic 'purchase' will only work on the first activation of each device. After all, only Apple knows how many times each iOS device has been 'activated', so it can only allow the first Apple ID you enter to 'buy' these applications. I think it will work that way, but I don't have any insider information - I'm only speaking from years of experience with iTunes purchases.
So the answer is no - what you suggest, I think iWork can't provide you for free. But I say again, I can be wrong.