The rumors of Microsoft"s acquisition of 6Wunderkinder have been circling for several weeks and after word broke that Microsoft had purchased the company for somewhere between $100-200 million, confirmation of the deal has now come through.
For those not familiar with the product, it is a highly regarded to-do list app and works on all major mobile and desktop platforms. Because this app is productivity focused, it fits into the theme that Microsoft is working to establish with its software and hardware.
Microsoft"s acquisition may concern existing users worried about how this might affect the app in the future. But 6Wunderkinder founder and CEO Christian Reber today assured users that they have no need to be concerned:
o what will change for you? Nothing right now. Our team in Berlin will continue to build and deliver you Wunderlist, Wunderlist Pro and Wunderlist for Business across all platforms–iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Mac, Android, Windows Phone, Windows and the Web. I will continue to lead the team and product strategy, because that’s what I love the most–building great products that help individuals and businesses get stuff done in the simplest and most intuitive way possible.
Over the next few months as Wunderlist becomes a part of the Microsoft family, we’ll introduce a host of new features, continue growing the ecosystem of partner integrations and progress in delivering Wunderlist to billions of people.
Microsoft has been bolstering up its productivity portfolio and besides buying up smaller companies, they have also been experimenting internally with apps like Flow, OneClip and Office Now. It"s clear that Microsoft is moving away from a one-app-does-all model and is creating individual apps that accomplish one task efficiently.
Seeing as the company is based in Germany, Microsoft is likely using its off-shore cash for the acquisition and because the to-do list is loved by its users, it appears to be a good purchase for the company as well. You should expect Microsoft to offer the service along side its other free productivity apps as they continue to build out their portfolio of productivity services.
In the last few months, Microsoft also purchased Acompli and rebranded their email app to Outlook and they also purchased Sunrise too. With Wunderlist now under their umbrella too, it raises the questions over whether this is the last acquisition in the current buying spree or if they have their eyes on more apps.
Microsoft was said to be considering a bid for Salesforce but it was reported that the two companies could not come to an agreement on price.