HTC Pays Microsoft $5 For Every Android Smartphone They Sell [Intellectual Property Patent Settlement Means Microsoft Gets $5 For Every Android Phone That HTC Sells]

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With Microsoft putting out Windows Phone 7 smartphones you would think that is how they were making money in terms of phone sales. Well, as it turns out they are also getting a few bucks every time HTC sells a smartphone.

Though, before anyone stops reading because they are thinking that few bucks is coming from HTC branded Windows Phone devices — continue on. As it turns out, Microsoft is getting $5 for every Android smartphone that HTC is selling. Yup, HTC pays Microsoft $5 every time they sell an Android smartphone.

And no, Microsoft is not necessarily the street corner bully demanding their money. Well, some may argue that they are, but that is a post for another day. As it turns out Microsoft and HTC had a patent settlement over intellectual property. Needless to say, it seems that Microsoft came out on top of that battle.

These details are coming by way of Citi analyst Walter Pritchard and also seem to make a previous Steve Ballmer statement seem that much more accurate. If you remember back to October when Ballmer stated;

“Android has a patent fee. It’s not like Android’s free.”

Well as it turns out, it does come with a fee, at least in the realm of HTC. Furthermore, according to Pritchard we are going to be seeing more of these settlements between Microsoft and other device manufacturers — and Microsoft is reportedly now asking between $7.50 and $12.50 per device. In that respect, it sounds like HTC got a good deal.

Of course, collecting money from patent settlements aside, Microsoft still has more than a fair shot at doing well with their mobile operating system. After all, while it may have gotten off to a slow start, we recently saw the Mango update detailed and we should be seeing some second generation hardware coming sooner rather than later. Plus, we still have those Nokia phones to look forward to seeing.

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