Microsoft yesterday made the surprising move to offer consumers more functional Office apps on the iPad after failing to drive Office 365 Home and Personal subscriptions, analysts said today.

“Microsoft is feeling pressure from the bottom end of the productivity market,” said Wes Miller of Directions on Microsoft. “In reality, they are doing this because of low uptake on consumer Office 365.”

On Thursday, Microsoft moved what independent analyst Ben Thompson called Office’s “scarcity line — the line between paid and free” for the iPad by changing the rights consumers have when they run the free-to-download Excel, PowerPoint and Word apps.

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