Microsoft is reported to have asked Samsung to pay US$15 per Android handset it sells, in order to licence patents it holds which it alleges are infringed by the Google-backed operating system.
According to Reuters, the Korean giant – which some analysts suggest will become the biggest smartphone seller in the near future – would be given a discounted rate of US$10 per device if it agrees to a deeper engagement with Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform.
It was previously reported that HTC, which has inked a deal with Microsoft to cover its Android devices, is paying US$5 per handset, with suggestions that the US computing giant was looking to increase this.
Android is proving to be something of a cash-cow for Microsoft, with market watcher Asymco suggesting that HTC alone pays more to Microsoft for its devices using the Google platform than Microsoft has generated in total from its own Windows Phone platform.
While the company has licensed its patents to four Android device vendors in the last week (General Dynamics, Onkyo, Velocity Micro and Wistron), HTC is the only tier-one vendor to have inked a deal. Microsoft has an ongoing legal action with Motorola about this vendor’s Android device portfolio, and has also filed suits against Barnes & Noble, Foxconn and Inventec related to the bookseller’s Nook ereader devices.
So far, Microsoft has made no moves to sue Google, while the search giant has also declined to come to the defence of its vendor partners. Google previously said its failed attempt to acquire Nortel’s patent portfolio was an attempt to strengthen its hand in patent lawsuits.
