Microsoft By Lee Mathews Dec. 11, 2013 3:56 pm
Rumors are swirling that Microsoft is considering doing away with licensing fees for Windows Phone and Windows RT. If that’s true, it may soon be cheaper for manufacturers like Samsung and HTC to build Windows devices than Android ones.
How can that be? Because Microsoft has patent licensing deals with just about every major Android manufacturer out there. The per-handset fees vary from company to company, but they’re all paying something.
And whatever they’re paying, it’s obviously more than the zero dollars Windows Phone or Windows RT would cost.
It would be a bold move by Microsoft, though one that they’ve been building toward for a while. The company is trying to shift focus to devices and services — like Office 365, SkyDrive, and Xbox. They’ve been giving away Office RT for free since the operating system launched and more recently started throwing in Office Home and Student on small tablets running Windows 8 and 8.1.
The fact that they’re giving away Office (which remains a huge cash cow for Microsoft) is a pretty good indicator that Microsoft is willing to try no-cost licensing for other products, too.
Getting Android for free certainly helped attract OEMs, and the same trick could work for Windows Phone and Windows RT. The few dollars difference doesn’t seem like much, but multiply $5 or $7 saved by two million or so devices and you’re looking at a massive savings.
More Windows phones and tablets and stores ultimately means more in the hands of consumers — and more opportunities for Microsoft to get folks paying for Xbox Music Pass, bigger SkyDrive vaults, and monthly Office 365 subs.
Another twist that makes this particularly interesting is that Microsoft, Nokia, and Oracle ganged up on Google and filed an anti-trust complaint over the “predatory” free distribution of Android. If you can’t beat them, join them… right?
Now read: Fake Xbox 360 backwards compatibility instructions brick the Xbox One
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How can that be? Because Microsoft has patent licensing deals with just about every major Android manufacturer out there. The per-handset fees vary from company to company, but they’re all paying something.
And whatever they’re paying, it’s obviously more than the zero dollars Windows Phone or Windows RT would cost.
It would be a bold move by Microsoft, though one that they’ve been building toward for a while. The company is trying to shift focus to devices and services — like Office 365, SkyDrive, and Xbox. They’ve been giving away Office RT for free since the operating system launched and more recently started throwing in Office Home and Student on small tablets running Windows 8 and 8.1.
The fact that they’re giving away Office (which remains a huge cash cow for Microsoft) is a pretty good indicator that Microsoft is willing to try no-cost licensing for other products, too.
Getting Android for free certainly helped attract OEMs, and the same trick could work for Windows Phone and Windows RT. The few dollars difference doesn’t seem like much, but multiply $5 or $7 saved by two million or so devices and you’re looking at a massive savings.
More Windows phones and tablets and stores ultimately means more in the hands of consumers — and more opportunities for Microsoft to get folks paying for Xbox Music Pass, bigger SkyDrive vaults, and monthly Office 365 subs.
Another twist that makes this particularly interesting is that Microsoft, Nokia, and Oracle ganged up on Google and filed an anti-trust complaint over the “predatory” free distribution of Android. If you can’t beat them, join them… right?
Now read: Fake Xbox 360 backwards compatibility instructions brick the Xbox One
More...
