Wait a minute! There seems to be something wrong with the title above. Isn't Android a competing operating system, which is
somewhat responsible for Microsoft's own Windows Phone 7's dismal performance? Yep, that's right, but thanks to a patent settlement with HTC, Microsoft is making money off its competing platform. Eons ago, HTC and Microsoft were embroiled in a patent infringement suit and finally, the settlement was reached. Under this settlement, Microsoft gets minimum $5 for every HTC phone sold.
Some curious analyst has estimated that HTC has sold about 30 million Android phones so far, which means that Microsoft received cool $150 million. And as the popularity of Android grows, the payment stream to Microsoft will also get more robust. And let's just compare this stream to the revenue from WP7. It is estimated that approximately 2 million WP7 phones have been sold so far and Microsoft earns $15 for each phone sold. This implies that Microsoft has made only $30 million off its own Windows Phone 7 platform. Jeez, looks like Microsoft would be better off killing its platform and promoting Android.
Though Microsoft is not going to promote Android in the near future, but it certainly is looking to ride on its back. The Redmond company is looking to get the similar deals done with the other Android OEMs as well and expects to receive $7.50 to $12.50 for each license. All this thanks to the archaic intellectual property laws. All major tech companies are involved in one or another patent dispute. It seems like these companies need attorneys which are as fierce and formidable as their engineers are. The latest dispute to surface concerns the new mobile payment system launched Google, the parent company of Android. The company has been sued by Ebay and PayPal for stealing their business secrets.