Microsoft has figured out a stealthy way to get onto your Android smartphone

Microsoft is trying to stealthily make its way onto your Android smartphone.

The Redmond company has signed a deal with smartphone company Lenovo to have its Office apps pre-installed on its phones, along with Skype and OneDrive - making its famous productivity tools available to Lenovo customers out of the box.

Microsoft's ambitions to be a major independent player in the smartphone market have failed; its Windows Phone devices now comprise less than 1% of total smartphone shipments.

But the company isn't giving up on mobile market and its billions of potential Microsoft customers. It's just changing tack.

Hence, this deal with Lenovo - which The Verge reports is similar to previous deals Microsoft has struck with Samsung, LG, Dell, Asus, Xiaomi, and others. If customers won't go to Microsoft apps and products, then Microsoft apps and products will just go to them.

It's not clear which Lenovo devices will be shipping with Office and other Microsoft apps, though the company said in a statement that "Lenovo expects to ship millions of these Android-based devices worldwide over the next several years."