It looks like Chinese telecom Huawei may be the next Android device manufacturer to start paying royalties to Microsoft. The BBC reports that they have begun talks on a deal, as Huawei plans to expand into new markets India, Japan and the United States next year, as well as other countries in 2013. With a huge device rollout on the horizon, it looks like Huawei wants to avoid any legal snags, though their marketing director phrased it a bit differently:
"We always respect the intellectual property of key companies," Mr Xu said. "At the moment we have more than 65,000 patents and we have enough instruments to protect our interests."
Huawei joins the ranks of Samsung, HTC, Acer, and others, who Microsoft has given the shakedown, claiming that Android infringes on MS patents. It has been quite the windfall for Microsoft, who Goldman Sachs estimates will rake in $444 million this year from the deals, more than it will make from its own Windows Phone operating system.
Source: BBC
