Microsoft gets $5 from every Android device sold by HTC

Microsoft has five times more income from Android for its patent fee than it has registered from its own Windows Phone platform. Some 30 million HTC Androids sold so far make for a total of $150 million solely from licenses for Microsoft.

In addition, another Citi analyst, Kevin Chiang, shared his estimate on Android device producers operating margins standing at 10% to 15% for handsets, while for tablets the number stood at the mere 2% to 3%.

To put it all in perspective, the average selling price of HTC-made phones hovers around the $360 mark, so that translates into a 1.39% share Microsoft snatches from the cost of the smartphone. If the software giant manages to force all phone makers to pay the patent fee, it would certainly swing the scales towards Windows Phone as Android would turn to be considerably less profitable.