In another victory for the ‘freemium’ model, the Chinese software company Kingsoft (HKG:3888) is making the international version of its mobile document editor app, Kingsoft Office for Android, totally free. The change takes place today, and the updated version 4.1 that’s free is already in the Android Market. The company is offering a refund to those who bought the app before at its previous price of US$5.
The same app is known as ‘WPS Office’ in China and has always been free due to a lack of payment options on the Android Market in mainland China.
Kingsoft’s mobile business director, Wang Hui, says that the international app now has two million users scattered across 192 countries. It allows users to both view and edit Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files. There’s also a Windows version of the suite of apps, which remains a paid-for product (although the trial period is a generous 12 months long).
Kingsoft’s main rivals on Android are QuickOffice, ThinkFree, and DocumentsToGo – all of which charge about US$10 to 15 for the ‘full’ version that has all the features unlocked. But none of those have a crucial Chinese localized version, meaning that there’s been less competition for mobile editing apps amongst Chinese users.
Check out the English version of the Kingsoft Office app in the Android Market]
[hat-tip: DoNews - article in Chinese]