Microsoft on Thursday announced that it had reached an Android patent licensing agreement with Quanta. The agreement will see Microsoft receive royalties for all Android and Chrome devices sold by Quanta, adding yet another vendor who pays Microsoft for sales of devices running Google’s software.
The deal?
In a statement accompanying the press release on the new deal, Horacio Gutierrez, Microsoft’s corporate vice president and deputy general counsel of intellectual property, says: ‘We are pleased to have reached this agreement with Quanta, and proud of the continued success of our Android licensing program in resolving IP issues surrounding Android and Chrome devices in the marketplace.’
More Android hurt
Read that zinger again, from ‘proud’ onwards. Microsoft is actually taking shots at Google, further dismissing the sentiment that running Android is actually ‘free’ since most every Android device maker pays Microsoft a patent licensing fee of sorts. Quanta is just small fry next to big catches like HTC, Samsung, and potentially Motorola, who are embroiled in a legal battle with Microsoft right now over Android licensing fees.
The numbers
Google Android is fast proving to be the most lucrative thing Microsoft has ever done in the mobile devices space. Or, more specifically, patent fees charged on Android products are proving to be very lucrative. So lucrative, in fact, Asymco estimates Microsoft could be making three to five times more money off of the sale of Google Android handsets than it does on Windows Phone devices. Last week we wrote about how Microsoft could be making some $444 million in Android patent licensing fees alone in 2012.
Google is trying to remedy this situation by bringing as many mobile device patents in-house as possible through the acquisition of patent portfolios or, in some cases, purchasing large companies outright. For now, though, Android vendors have pretty much resigned themselves to the fact that they have to pay hefty licensing fees if they do not want to see their products pulled from the market completely, or deal with hefty legal fees and fines.
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