Like HTC, Samsung Now Pays Microsoft to Put Android On Its Phones

Samsung now pays Microsoft for the privilege of selling Android phones. Of course, it's being called a "partnership." And yes, we've seen this before: Microsoft also strong armed HTC into giving them a cut of the profits for every Android device sold.

Microsoft, sitting on a stack of patents they believe have been infringed upon by Google's Android platform, has bullied yet another handset manufacturer into handing cash over. In fact, between HTC and Samsung, they're going to make more money off Android than they do Windows Phone 7. And Google isn't happy about that, calling this move extortion and issuing the following statement to TechCrunch:


Of course, Microsoft is also trying to pull the same maneuver on the (now) Google-owned Motorola, but Moto keeps wriggling out of that conflict. If Motorola, who has plenty of patents of their own (not to mention Google's), doesn't budge, what happens next? Will there be a winner takes all patent war? Then again Samsung sells more Android devices than anyone, and they didn't want to mess with Microsoft, so it's anyone's guess what Moto will do. [Microsoft, TechCrunch, AllThingsD]