iPhone sales are estimated to reach 10 millions soon

[bjoraker]

Oh, oh.

http://www.quickoffice.com/?os_listing=iPhone_OS

Looks like someone else is already there with a product for the iphone....

[Oedipus]

If you had sm office on the iphone you would be catapulted instantly into the front pages of the news media. It would be that much of a big deal. I believe it would transform your company overnight. I think your hesitation is hurting you badly. Cut and paste is on the iphone in version 3 of the software in July 2009, which you can get now thru a developer's sdk. Now is the time to jump in... Perhaps starting with the textmaker application and following up with the other modules is your best bet.

I concur unreservedly with your message! Yesterday the QuickOffice's so-called "office suite" was released - and it made headlines everywhere! Yet, it's ridiculously under-functional so far, its word processor comprising just a few fonts (under ten!), having still no auto-correction, etc.… However, I'm not entirely negative of QO's efforts: the copy-paste property is well implemented: not strange as it utilises Apple's own API and GUI elements. Besides, it's still the version 1(.1) of the software, therefore vast advances are expected in the coming months. Touch wood!

Dataviz' Documents To Go is expected early in May - it might be more capable (or not), but neither of the two comes close to SoftMaker's equivalent! I believe the QuickOffice covers under 5% of SoftMaker's capability. Does that sound impressive?

I am still - perhaps more than ever - of the opinion that the iPhone community urgently needs SoftMaker's suite for the platform! I even fear that once you start coding for the iPhone, you might well regret years of fidelity to Windows Mobile and ditch it instantaneously. Or at least shift your main focus to the superior platforms such as the iPhone OS and the upcoming [equally promising] WebOS of Palm.

It's almost ridiculous: here in The Netherlands every idiot on the street with the most unremarkable face walks with an iPhone in his pocket (evidenced unmistakably by the iPhone's stock earphone cable, rather distinct from that of an iPod or by the looks of the device itself) tote the best portable device (PDA, telephone) in existence! Hurts somewhat (you see, Elitists are very sensitive souls, and do not take to many a thing with the ease the common man would).
By the way, just under 1 billion downloads in the last 9 months or thereabouts - is that not enough a trigger for you to start developing for the platform? Please, do consider the poor devils urging you to begin development for their favourite OS. Thank you…

[Oedipus]

Oh, oh.

http://www.quickoffice.com/?os_listing=iPhone_OS

Looks like someone else is already there with a product for the iphone....

As you've probably found out by now, the QuickOffice suite is of extremely limited functionality so far… no attachment support, fonts database limited to just 7 or 8; etc., etc., etc.… even autocorrection/predictive text input facility is omitted, a system feature available in a wide range of applications (including 3-rd party ones)!

I believe the Documents to Go, due in May, will contain more features, but I am perfectly positive it will be nothing remotely as capable as SoftMaker's earlier itirations (for Windoze Mobile).

There's also a rumor that Mariner Software, the makers of Mariner Calc for the iPhone and Montage, Contour, StoryMil, MacJournal and so forth - for Mac, contemplate to develop an office suite for iPhone. An exciting news (as their (script-)writing software for Mac is excellent!), but I won't haste to trust the rumor in question…


cordially, I

[Sean.WinMac]

I have been waiting for a few general quality applications to reach the iPhone:
1) PIM - from Agenda, or Pocket Informant
2) SoftMaker, or the Office like version. With the power of the iphone, it would be a
3) eBook Reader

1,3) have now been done with great updates and ability to even convert text (magazine articles, if need be, into a format that can be read later

Office software is severly lacking and while I personally believe this was in part due to the lack of copy/paste ability, because this app would need it. I am still amazed that SM.com has not moved sooner on this with a custom copy/paste until the OS had the ability natively.

You have been amazing developers for the pocket pda community, and I honestly do not understand why you would hesitate, unless you forsaw the issue of pricing and few successful apps being purchased above $9.99.

Trial software, then crank the price. Get people able to see how amazing your software is first. That is the secret. Or variations on this sales/price war theme.

For gods sake, or better ours! Please please please, reconsider for the development on the platform of Apple and iPhone. I am pleading with you. I hardly see how you are going to go wrong with this platform.

[Oedipus]

Allright, dear developer(s)!

Look at the Google-generated hits on "SoftMaker": http://www.google.com/search?client=saf ... 8&oe=UTF-8 (hint: ca. 371.000 hits)

And here, the hits generated by Google on "QuickOffice AND iPhone": http://www.google.com/search?client=saf ... 8&oe=UTF-8 (hint: 1.400.000 hits).

Now, compare the numbers!
The software was released under 10 days ago, just 10 days ago!

Do you expect any harder evidence to support the prudence of developing for iPhone? Please, give me one reason beyond the gimmicky "we're short of resources" or "our staff has no iPhone programming experience"!

You'd be thoroughly astounded to find out of a growing number of enthusiast novice "developers" for the iphone. Of course, their applications generally are no comparison in their potential or complexity to your mobile software suite, but mind there are many, many hundreds with no coding/programming experience whatsover - not for the iPhone alone but at all! Here's an article:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/ar ... 93.DTL&o=0

[JSR]

I agree with the comments posted here.

It's not just about the iPhone but the iPod Touch, too.

I use Softmaker 2008 on my netbook, an old Softmaker 2002 on my H/PC, and I'm considering the Linux version. I would definitely buy Softmaker for my iPod Touch if it was available.

The one thing the iPod Touch is missing is a decent wordpro & spreadsheet app. I wouldn't expect to type up long documents or prepare complex spreadsheets on the iPod Touch, but to be able to edit ones that I carry with me and (perhaps one day) print, would be ideal.

According to http://www.macworld.com/article/140165/ ... sales.html, put together the combined sales of the iPhone and iPod Touch is a staggering 37 million units. 37 million! If only 5% of users (2m) buy Softmaker on the iPhone/iPod Touch, well you can do the math...

According to http://www.appleinsider.com/print/09/04 ... phone.html, 2008 ended with 17 million iPhones sold, and 13million iPod Touches sold (30 million total). Now the total is 37 million - the extra 7 million is split almost equally between iPhone and iPod Touch, indicating that sales of the iPod Touch are increasing quicker than the iPhone.

So consider mine a vote for Softmaker on the iPhone/iPod Touch. I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

[Oedipus]

I agree with the comments posted here.

It's not just about the iPhone but the iPod Touch, too.

I use Softmaker 2008 on my netbook, an old Softmaker 2002 on my H/PC, and I'm considering the Linux version. I would definitely buy Softmaker for my iPod Touch if it was available.

The one thing the iPod Touch is missing is a decent wordpro & spreadsheet app. I wouldn't expect to type up long documents or prepare complex spreadsheets on the iPod Touch, but to be able to edit ones that I carry with me and (perhaps one day) print, would be ideal.

According to http://www.macworld.com/article/140165/ ... sales.html, put together the combined sales of the iPhone and iPod Touch is a staggering 37 million units. 37 million! If only 5% of users (2m) buy Softmaker on the iPhone/iPod Touch, well you can do the math...

According to http://www.appleinsider.com/print/09/04 ... phone.html, 2008 ended with 17 million iPhones sold, and 13million iPod Touches sold (30 million total). Now the total is 37 million - the extra 7 million is split almost equally between iPhone and iPod Touch, indicating that sales of the iPod Touch are increasing quicker than the iPhone.

So consider mine a vote for Softmaker on the iPhone/iPod Touch. I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

(To the SoftMaker management): …or type "DatavizInc" (i.e., the Twitter account name of the developers of Documents to Go) in Twitter's search bar - to by yet another means convince yourselves in the profitability of developing for the iPhone!

Mid-May is the approximate launch date of the iPhone version of Documents To Go, pledged by the developers a few weeks earlier, thence its frequent reocurrence in the Twitter posts on the subject. About 80% of the Twitter posts to @DatavizInc are iPhone-related. That's while the application hasn't even been launched on iTunes yet (its introduction, however, is expected any day now).

To effectively illustrate my points, have a look at the screenshots posted below. Compare them.

Pardon me, but you're being very naïve and business-inefficient in your reluctance to develop for the iPhone. But then, of course, the choice is yours… Goodness, I've done preposterous amount of research for you!..

[erika]

iPhone is the trend. In order to make more money, the companies need to develop software for trends.

[habermas]

Iphone sales last quarter were 7,4 million and on top of that comes 10 million ipods of which a substantial amount will have been ipod touches with the ability to run applications. Can you imagine how many iphone/ipod touch owners would be willing to pay between 8 and 15 euro for a lightweight version of Softmaker Office or just TextMaker?

If only 5% of this quarters purchasers of iphones choose to spend 12 euro for a lightweight Softmaker Office you will have generated a revenue stream of 4.4 million euro of which Apple demands 30% leaving roughly 3 million euro to cover your company's costs.

And this is just if you sell the application to 5% of this quarter's new iphone owners. Imagine if you sold the application to 5% of all the ipod owners of the last 3 years... I guess we're talking potential revenue of 30 million euro - and that doesn't even include the potential revenue from purchases by ipod touch owners.

Please, my dear friends at SoftMaker - DO the math and let us all enjoy a version of your wonderful software for the iPod (and OS/X). Let's face it: Windows Mobile is a dying platform - what do you intend to do about it?

Even Patrice Bernard has managed to adapt his MetrO application to the iphone platform now so I'm afraid you're the only ones left with a blockbuster legacy Windows Mobile application that have yet to do an iphone adaptation..

[JSR]

I can't believe it's been so long and there hasn't been even a hint that there'll be a Softmaker for the iPhone/iPod Touch. With Apple recently releasing the new iPhone 3GS and the 3rd Gen of iPod Touch, clearly there's still a huge take-up for this platform.

Having waited so long, I'm reluctantly forced to consider something like Documents To Go for £5.99 (I'd happily pay more than that for Softmaker on my iPod Touch). I'm currently working on editing a book - for which my iPod Touch would be useful if there was a decent document editing app available. I'm so used to Softmaker that this is my preferred platform and the text input of the iPod Touch is far superior to my PDA (particularly since new versions of Softmaker no longer support my H/PC), but it seems it'll never be an option.

For Softmaker to have spent all this time and still do not consider the iPhone/iPod Touch to be a viable platform, I can only presume that the Softmaker team don't see much of a future for Softmaker Office outside of Windows and Linux. If this is truly the case, then the future of a great cross-platform Office Suite looks bleak.

[habermas]

Amazing how silent SoftMaker are on this issue... you could move into this space with a very small investment. Nobody is expecting you to implement a full fledged word processor to start with. After all, what most people want is something like Documents To Go and you could easily outperform those guys.

By the way - what are you going to do about this new slate coming out from Apple in March? Are you going to ignore this business opportunity as well?

[erika]

iPhone sales were boomed as expected last year. Look at Apple's balance sheet.

Instead of developing for Pocket PC or Windows CE, you would have develop for iPhone and would become a tycoon. Not joking. Wake up sleeping dudes. In the apple online store, there are 140,000 apps to download.

I notified you 1 year ago and you had enough time then.

I think SoftMaker product managers are somehow in numb state and could not do proper market analysis.

[JSR]

I think the unwillingness to support the iPhone and iPod Touch are going to prove disastrous.

Today, Apple announced the new iPad. Many application developers were invited to prepare their applications to support the new device in advance, so that Apple could state that there would be 140,000 applications ready to run on the iPad from "day one". Anyone who has apps already available for the iPhone/iPod Touch should be able to easily have them ready for the iPad. Where's Softmaker Office for this platform?

If Softmaker miss this boat as well as the iPhone and iPod Touch, it makes you wonder what the future plans are for Softmaker.

As much as I'm pleased as the proverbial punch that I can run Softmaker on everything including my old Jornada 720 and my Dell Axim, those are the past. The present is the iPhone/iPod Touch, and the future is the iPad.

If the iPad is released at the price they say it will then it's going to be the hit of the year and no mistake. I'm already pencilling-in saving up the cash ready for its release in the UK (whenever that happens to be). The ability to use it with both an on-screen keyboard and a wireless keyboard is going to make this an invaluable device for all manner of apps - including Office apps.

It would be nice to see Softmaker in on the ground floor, but if it's not to be then, well... what are Softmaker's plans for the future?

[JSR]

I've just been watching the Steve Jobs video from the launch of the iPad.

It's mentioned that there are over 75 million iPhones and iPod Touches out there. Softmaker could have made a killing by now.

Unfortunately for Softmaker, he also announced iWork for the iPad - which includes Pages (Wordpro), Numbers (spreadsheet), and KeyNotes (presentations) - each costing just $9.99.

Watching the video of these apps just made me say "I want that". That's where I want to be. The apps look and behave wonderfully on the iPad.

iWork for the iPad does what Softmaker could have done, had they developed for the iPhone and iPod Touch before now. Seems to me that the boat has been missed. Even if Softmaker was to develop for the iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch, they'll forever be playing "catch-up" now.

[erika]

if SoftMaker releases beta iPhone and iPad version in April, that would still make sense.

Assume SoftMaker Office for iPhone and iPad is 20$ which is decent price compared to iWorks ($30). If you can sell to 30 million subscribers, you can easily make 30 mio x 20$ = 600 mio$ revenue for the first year. Then make maintenance subscription for 10$/year. Now you have 300 mio$ cash cow!

Did you hire junior marketing and portfolio management staff to make market analysis? Wake up! This is the Final call! Trend should be your friend.