Microsoft Makes a Killing from Android Patent Licenses
Microsoft Makes a Killing from Android Patent Licenses
Posted 09/29/2011 at 8:33am
| by Paul Lilly
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We knew Microsoft was making money off of Google's Android platform, we just didn't realize how much. Thanks to lucrative patent licenses, the Redmond software maker is expected to rake in a cool $444 million in revenue for its fiscal year 2012 ended June 30, 2012. Not a bad score for piggybacking Android sales, but is it worth playing second fiddle to your competitor?
Goldman Sachs says Microsoft is getting anywhere from $3 to $6 for every Android device sold, BuinessInsider reports. While nearly half a billion dollars in patent license revenue sounds peachy for Microsoft, it doesn't bode well for Mango. According to BusinessInsider, Microsoft's total revenue for fiscal 2012 is around $75 billion. Suddenly that $444 million figure doesn't sound so awesome anymore, not when Android is walking all over Windows Phone 7.
Regardless, it's at least a sizable consolation prize if Microsoft can't carve out a bigger slice of the mobile market.
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Keith E. Whisman
September 29, 2011 at 8:43pm
That would be great if Microsoft makes more money from Android then it does from Windows Phone 7.
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