Samsung Doesn’t Want to Pay Microsoft Anymore

Microsoft hasn’t had as much luck and success in the mobile sector as they had hoped for. Lucky for MS they rake in more than 5 times the money they make on their own phones in royalties from Android handsets. Yes, you read right there. Microsoft makes 5 times as much money from Android as they do from their own Windows Phone line. To put a number on it, Microsoft makes $1.6 billion on Android handsets every year.

After a lot of disputes between Samsung and Microsoft back in 2011, the two giants reach an agreement where Samsung would pay the royalties for the patents Microsoft held and at the same time share classified device information with Microsoft for the purpose of marketing and development. It wasn’t an issue at that time, as Microsoft wasn’t a hardware manufacturer themselves. In return, the fees would be lowered if Samsung could keep up specific sales targets for Windows phones.

This has however changed since Microsoft acquired Nokia and now Samsung doesn’t want to pay those fees anymore. Microsoft’s purchase of Nokia makes them a direct competitor and it would void the previous agreement according to Samsung. So they refuse to pay the huge bill and in return Microsoft wants another 7 million dollars in damages for the late payment.

One can surely see both sides of the story here. Samsung doesn’t want to be held to an agreement that’s no longer valid and would force them to share company secrets with a direct competitor. On the other hand, Microsoft wants the money that is rightfully theirs based on the patents they own.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Will the two giants reach another settlement outside of the courtroom, or will this be another lawsuit in the world of technology, like we’ve seen so many before.

Thanks to Reuters for providing us with this information

Image courtesy of AndroidAuthority