Both companies revealed the move earlier today

Oct 2, 2015 03:53 GMT  ·  By

Great news for those of you who own Asus smartphones or tablets powered by the Android operating system and must absolutely have Office apps installed.

Microsoft and Asus have just announced they have signed a deal that will make it possible for the latter to preload Office apps on its Android smartphones and tablets.

“This agreement delivers significant value for both companies. Beyond ensuring continued improvements to our products, it opens the door to the kind of collaboration between Microsoft and Asus made possible only through mutual respect and alignment on intellectual property,” said Nick Psyhogeos, president of Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC.

According to Microsoft, the deal includes a broad cross-license covering, not just the possibility to preload Office apps on Asus devices powered by Android.

The partnership includes much more than just access to Office apps

Also, the deal is meant to pave the way for closer integration between Microsoft and Asus. This means that both companies will share their own technologies toward the development of new, innovative product solutions.

“This agreement will give us both a greater ability to innovate for our customers. We see it leading to broad partnership opportunities for future technologies and a strengthened relationship between our two companies as leaders of the technology industry,” said ASUS General Counsel Vincent Hong.

This is the second major handset manufacturer that announced such a partnership with Microsoft in 2015, the first being Samsung.

The South Korean company did a similar deal with Microsoft, which is why Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 edge and Galaxy Note 5 owners now have all Office apps installed on their smartphones at no additional costs.

Since this is just the beginning, more companies are expected to ink such deals with Microsoft. It's probably just a matter of time until we will see the company's Office apps on all Android devices.