Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella may unveil an iPad version of the company's Office software suite on March 27, using his first big press appearance to launch the company's most profitable product in a version compatible with the Apple tablet.

Mr Nadella, who replaced longtime CEO Steve Ballmer earlier this year, will address the media and industry executives in San Francisco on March 27.

Investors for years have urged Microsoft to adapt Office for mobile devices from Apple and Google, rather than shackling it to Windows as PC sales decline. But the software giant has been reluctant to undermine its other lucrative franchise, its PC operating software.

Microsoft gives up some $2.5 billion a year in revenue by keeping Office off the iPad, which has now sold almost 200 million units, analysts estimate.

Tech blog Re/code first reported news of Mr Nadella’s event. Microsoft said in an invitation to reporters that Mr Nadella will discuss “news related to the intersection of cloud and mobile” but declined to comment on the specifics of the CEO’s appearance.

Microsoft has had iPad and iPhone versions of Office primed for several months now, sources said, but the company has dallied on their release due to internal divisions, among other things.

Although Mr Nadella is expected to discuss his thinking in depth next week, the company has already signalled that it will adopt a more liberal attitude toward putting its software on different platforms.

Microsoft said earlier on Monday that it would make OneNote, its note-taking software, available on Mac, a move interpreted by observers as a shot against Evernote, the popular note-taking application that has both Mac and Android compatibility.

Aside from Evernote, Microsoft also faces budding challenges from startups that have released mobile-friendly alternatives to Word, Excel and Powerpoint.

Reuters