Microsoft gets $5 for HTC Android device sold

Microsoft gets $5 for HTC Android device soldAccording to latest report by Citigroup on Microsoft, the software giant makes $5 for every HTC device sold by HTC.

The repot released on Friday said that Microsoft receives the money as part of a patent settlement agreement with the Taiwanese manufacturer, which produces some the leading smartphones running on Google’s android device.

Microsoft was able to get some very attractive royalties from HTC when it negotiated the terms of the patent licensing deal in April last year. According to some sources HTC infringes upon a range of patents in areas including user interface and aspects of OS itself.

The Citigroup report also pointed out that Microsoft is further planning to file lawsuits against other Android phone makers and is aiming to get "a $7.50 to $12.50 per unit license to settle alleged infringement of Microsoft patents."

The report also said that the settlements could validate Microsoft’s claims to some extent that Android deices infringes upon its patents and could reduce earnings for Android devices and as a result will make its own Windows Phone platform more attractive to the manufacturers. Interestingly, Microsoft is generating more revenues from Android than from its own platform.