Now here is something some of you out there might find hilarious – it seems that Android is actually helping Microsoft earn more dough in their bottom line compared to Windows Phone itself – weird, ain’t it? That is what Citi analyst Walter Pritchard had to say about the situation, where Microsoft could actually be making more money off Google’s Android operating system compared to their very own platform, up to a whopping 500% more.
Pritchard claims that this is because of a patent settlement, where HTC needs to fork out $5 to Microsoft for every Android phone sold. And we do know that HTC has done gangbusters in the world of Android phones, moving plenty of units with constant revisions and new models rolling out. As for Analyst Horace Dediu’s estimate, HTC has sold 30 million Android smartphones worldwide until now, so that might just equal to a cool $150 million for nothing on Microsoft’s behalf.
Contrast this to Windows Phone sales that total a mere 2 million licenses, and if each license fee is $15, that would mean a grand total of $30 million – pathetic, no?