After taking the iPad by storm, Microsoft Office fizzles on Chromebooks

Remember that time Word, Excel, and PowerPoint landed on the iPad? It topped the charts on Apple’s App Store in 12 hours. 20 days later, Microsoft Word remains the #1 free iPad app, according to app tracking service App Annie.

Then, two days ago, Microsoft announced another platform launch for Office: the service debuted in the Chrome Web Store.

Many were shocked to see the news; after all, Microsoft and Google have been at each other’s throats, fighting for enterprise customers. Google fed on XP’s demise in recent Chromebook promos, and Microsoft has consistently attacked Chromebooks for their inability to run apps like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Seriously, Microsoft has a chart here listing that as a disadvantage. So we’re now confused by Microsoft’s decision to launch Chrome apps in the first place.

In any event, Microsoft’s move to launch Office Online apps in the Chrome Web Store created zero ripples. Chrome users appear hopelessly disinterested. Despite the launch-time press, the Web Store’s public stats show that Word Online has 22,000 users, while PowerPoint and Excel have only 11,000 and 13,000 users respectively.

Compare that to Microsoft OneDrive’s 796,574 users and you can come to one of two conclusions: Either Microsoft Office users don’t care about Chrome, or Chromebook users don’t think much of Office.