At the moment there aren’t as many Windows Phone OEMs compared to Android and there are a number of reasons behind this, one of which is the licensing fees that Microsoft charges to use its operating system or its patents. Now in a bid to attract more OEMs, a report out of Korea claims that Microsoft has lowered the patent fees for both Samsung and LG.
Now it is unclear as to what the goal is by reducing this fee. Perhaps it could be used to attract more OEMs to create Windows Phone handsets, or maybe it’s a deal that Microsoft is offering Android OEMs where patent fees will be lowered in exchange for helping to churn out Windows Phones on Microsoft’s behalf.
At the moment it seems that Samsung is paying Microsoft $2.70 for every Android smartphone or tablet that is sold, and given Samsung’s position in the market, that’s a lot of money that Microsoft stands to earn and has earned over the past few years. The report claims that Microsoft is in similar talks with LG.
While Samsung has yet to officially announce a new Windows Phone handset, LG is said to have one in the works in the form of the LG Lancet which looks like it could be making its way onto Verizon’s network in the near future.