One thing you may not know is that Microsoft has been making $5 off every Android phone that HTC sells for over a year since they won a patent ligitation. Now, Horace Dediu of Asymco estimates that they're actually making a bunch more money off this deal than off their own Windows Phone 7 mobile OS. Read on past the break for more info.
Dediu claims that Microsoft made $21 mil. (1.4 mil. units @ $15 license) off Windows phone 7 and $60 mil. (12 mil. units @ $5 'ransom') off HTC's lineup of Android phones. Ridiculous.
The estimates are based off the Canalys smartphone sales numbers for Q2 released earlier this month and, as BGR notes, not all HTC phones sold are Android (they also make WP7 handsets). Still, a large chunk of that number are, in fact, Android phones so the headline holds, even at lower number.
There's no real conclusion I can leave you with other than the fact that the US patent system is seriously f*ed up and Microsoft are being trolls making money off other people's hard work. On a brighter note, Android had been and will continue to kick their ass for a long time in the mobile OS game. Karma out.
Image: customsense.com
Phillip Dickin
Microsoft are holding the public to ransom! a few of my friends have iPhones but you cannot Bluetooth one of these from an Android, on iPhone to iPhone! bullying the public into the iPhone market, well I say to everyone with an iPhone... ditch it and get an Android, a far superior OS & far more flexible! Android 1 Microsoft 0.