It is rumoured that HTC is the latest victim of MicroSofts patent war against Android with a settlement figure of $5 per device license fee. Recently Wistron also entered a Patent agreement with MicroSoft following in the footsteps of General Dynamics Itronix and Onkyo amongst others.
According to the 21st Century Business Herald Chinese companies like ZTE and Huawei are looking to distance themselves from Android due to these recent rifts. Their options are mainly Windows Phone or MeeGo. Windows phone takes them closer into the belly of the beast and hopefully carries them favour with their new master but comes with a licensing fee of $15 per device. MeeGo is the new player / alternative which is not of interest to MicroSoft at the moment due to its current size but also it has to be said that it is unknown if some of MicroSofts Patents might affect MeeGo in the future.
Next in the firing line for MicroSoft is Samsung and it is rumoured that they are looking for a payout at $15 per device fee. We need to also keep in mind that the patent battle ground is a complex one with settlements between Google and Apple & Oracle still ongoing and these could pile on further device fees onto future Android handsets.
Source SlashGear and DiGiTimes
