Did you know? Microsoft makes nearly $8 for every Android device

While Microsoft’s Windows Phone mobile operating system hasn’t quite succeeded in wooing consumers, it still manages to make money out of Android mobile OS. Yes, you heard it right! According to a report by ZDnet, Microsoft is making as much as $8 per Android device, owing to its Android patent agreements. It is known to have made around $3.4 billion in 2013 from Android sales. Android has been adding to Microsoft’s revenues for more than a year now, in fact, the company has been making money from its Android patent licenses since 2011. If a vendor refuses to pay, the company threatens it with a patent lawsuit. However, it has managed to convince vendors that paying the license fee would be cheaper than fighting a lawsuit. “The object, however, isn’t to win in court. In recent months, Microsoft has convinced Foxconn, the world’s largest contract electronics OEM, Nikon, ZTE, and numerous other Android OEMs that it’s cheaper to pay Microsoft by acquiring a patent license than it is to fight them in a lawsuit,” adds the report. The report further states that Motorola Mobility and Huawei are the only companies that don’t have to pay the Microsoft-Android intellectual-property (IP) tax. Google spokesman Matt Kallman tells Dow Jones Business News that, “Microsoft has been using the same tactic time and again. Instead of building great new product. Microsoft attacks the competition, and tries to drive up the prices of Android devices for consumers.”