Android may be readily used by smartphone users the world over but at the end of the day, Microsoft reaps a lot of rewards as a result. Wait, what? Think of it in regards to the patents that it owes. Rumours suggest that Microsoft receives significantly more royalty fee from Android smartphone users. These mainly include: Samsung and HTC brands. Google and Microsoft may exist as competitors in this market but there are royalties to be paid like there are profits to be made. Microsoft officially revealed in a legal filing a figure of 1 billion in royalties that Samsung pays each year.
Ofcourse, a figure in isolation does not capture the whole picture. Just so that you understand the significance of this figure of $1 billion, Microsoft made $848 million in operating income from the Entertainment and Devices division last year. This division deals in popular devices such as the Xbox gaming console, accessories such as the Kinect and Xbox Live online gaming service along with video calling services such as Skype and Windows Phone line. Even the Bing and MSN networks are absolutely no match given that the division only contributed to a loss worth $1.3 billion last year.
Here is another interesting assessment. Microsoft actually makes much more money from Samsung than Apple did by winning the court case upon suing their rival in California. Do bear in mind that assessment does not even account for the amount that it makes from other Android manufacturers. That immediately raises the question about how much Android software is adopted from Microsoft tech. Well, here is something even more interesting that is also quite thought provoking all the same: the investigation of Chinese ministry of commerce revealed that Microsoft holds about 200 patent families that can be deemed essential for the construction of an Android smartphone.
