Microsoft currently holds several important patents that cover a number of Android features like synchronization, security and file storage. And the company has now focused its attention to license its patents portfolio.
Analysts now estimate that Microsoft is now in a position to earn as much as $3.4 billion every year by licensing its Android (and Chrome OS) patents.
A new report over at DigitalTrends cites unofficial forecasts that revealed this number, and while there are no official details on the paid royalties, according to these estimates a $1 fee per device generates around $430 million in revenue for Redmond every single year.
If the royalty goes up to $8 per device, Microsoft could potentially earn $8.8 billion every year — and this is what analysts estimate the technology giant could be earning as early as 2017.
The technology titan recently signed patent licensing deals with two of the largest Android device manufacturers — Foxconn and ZTE — with both companies agreeing to pay Microsoft a set amount of money for every device they make.
At this point in time, the Redmond-based company claims that it has already signed license deals for approximately 80 percent of the devices sold in the United States.
Big names like Samsung, LG, HTC, Acer and Barnes & Noble are said to be Microsoft’s licensee.
The company is yet to provide any figures for the global market, but eventually Microsoft expects to sign similar agreements with other hardware vendors, with the aim to get royalties for no less than 95 percent of Android devices shipped around the world.
