Microsoft Grabs Onkyo By The Tablets, Onkyo Coughs Up Licensing Fees

Microsoft is really liking Android about now. Since the software giant grabbed up a licensing deal with General Dynamics Itronix that covered a bunch of patents that makers were using in Android-powered tablets it has been on a licensing spree. One of the first major Android using firms to agree to pay Microsoft for the patents was HTC. According to reports, Microsoft is now making more from licensing the Android related patents that for licensing Windows Phone.

More recently, Velocity Micro agreed to pay licensing fees to Microsoft for using the patents in tablets. Today Microsoft has reported that it has signed up another firm for patent licensing. This time the company is Onkyo. Onkyo had an Android tablet in Japan last year. The terms of the agreement have not been disclosed, but some think Microsoft may be getting $5 per device sold.

The agreement between Onkyo and Microsoft gives Onkyo access to the Microsoft patent portfolio for tablets on the Android platform. The strangest part of these licensing fees to me is that if Android really is making more for Microsoft than Windows Phone, Microsoft has more of a vested interest in seeing Android do well than its own OS right now.

[via Android]