14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has already announced that it has partnered with several handset manufacturers that will allow them to put applications like Office, OneDrive and Skype inside their smartphones.
Samsung is one of the companies that took the decision to put Microsoft apps and services inside their flagship smartphones, the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge, but other companies made the same move, including Dell and Pegatron Technology.
But this won't come for free, as Microsoft had to offer these handset makers something in return in order to have these apps pre-installed on Android smartphones.
According to Digitimes, sources in Taiwan and China's smartphone upstream supply chain claim that in return for putting Microsoft's apps and services inside their Android devices, the Redmond-based company cut their patent fees.
This means that Samsung and the rest of the 10 companies that partnered with Microsoft will pay less for these patents they are using inside their Android smartphones.
Microsoft's offer seems very appealing on a very competitive Android market
The deal is meant to offer advantages to both parties, and even though Microsoft will now gain less from patent fees paid by these 11 partners, the Android devices' shipments are now so high that Microsoft's profits from patent licensing fees are already very consistent.
The fact that Microsoft offers some financial gains to its partners in return for other services like having their apps pre-installed on Android smartphones and tablets seems very appealing for the moment.
Google doesn't seem to have responded to Microsoft's move, but since the competition on the Android market is pretty fierce, it will be hard to make these handset makers change their minds in the future.
We expect more Android handset makers to announce partnerships with Microsoft in the coming months, so we will see products like Office, OneDrive, OneNote and Skype included in more Android smartphones in the not-so-distant future.