HTC Pays Microsoft $5 Per Android Phone, Says Citi
Microsoft gets $5 for every HTC phone running Android, according to Citi analyst Walter Pritchard, who released a big report on Microsoft this morning. Microsoft is getting that money thanks to a patent settlement with HTC over intellectual property infringement. Microsoft is suing other Android phone makers, and it's looking for $7.50 to $12.50 per device, says Pritchard.
A rough estimate of the number of HTC Android devices shipped is 30 million. If HTC paid $5 per unit to Microsoft, that adds up to $150 million Android revenues for Microsoft. Microsoft has admitted selling 2 million Windows Phone licenses (though not devices.) Estimating that the license fee is $15/WP phone, that makes Windows Phone revenues to date $30 million. So Microsoft has received five times more income from Android than from Windows Phone.
Look at the brighter side, HTC is still able to sell these devices. And. Developers are able to create great apps for these devices. All fair.