Microsoft and Samsung have reportedly been in talks to decide how to adjust the recently failed patent licensing agreement. Recently Samsung stopped paying Microsoft for use of their Android patent portfolio. This prompted Microsoft to sue Samsung for failing to pay and not paying interest on missed payments. Now the two companies are attempting to move forward and create a partnership which benefits both companies.
Samsung is the world’s largest manufacturer of smartphones, most of which are running Google’s Android. Microsoft has been striking patent agreements with most large Android handset manufacturers. These agreements were never fully disclosed, but it is rumored Microsoft would require a fee for each phone sold. It is unclear if Microsoft also used these agreements to encourage handset manufacturers to sell phones running Windows Phone along side their Android offerings.
The deal Microsoft and Samsung seem to be making should benefit both companies. Currently Samsung does offer some Windows Phones but they are hardly supported and not marketed. This new deal looks to lower the licensing fees for Samsung and in return Samsung will make a better effort for their Windows and Windows Phone devices. These fees Samsung was paying, while never officially disclosed, were estimated to total in the 3 billion dollar range, which would account for approximately 10% of Samsung’s annual net profit.
Hopefully this new agreement helps Samsung and Microsoft work together to build better devices. Samsung cannot ignore Microsoft because Microsoft has technologies Samsung sees as valuable. Windows Phone may not be on Samsung’s mind, but new technology such as the internet of things and cloud services are important to Samsung moving forward. This doesn’t look like another Samsung versus Apple outcome where the two companies are worst enemies. Instead Samsung and Microsoft are finding common ground to ensure each other’s mutual success.
How do you feel about Samsung and Microsoft teaming up? Do you think more Windows and Windows Phone devices from Samsung would be a good thing? Let us know in the comments below!
