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Microsoft cutting license fees by 70% on sub $250 devices.
Just read a article, they are going from $50, to $15 on sub $250 devices. This could be a nice move, for someone wanting a smaller/cheaper windows device. Android OS is free, but I think their are patent fees on some of the stuff (someone said $8 per device), so could be less than a $15 difference, should make the OEMs a little happier, and consumers in this range.
http://www.theverge.com/2014/2/21/5435152/windows-8-1-license-fees-cut-by-70-percent-rumor
Comments
Interesting.
One thing that makes Windows uncompetitive on cheaper tablets and cell phones is that Microsoft wants to charge so much for the OS license, while Android is basically free. This could cut into that somewhat, but Windows still faces the problem of needing more storage and more memory for the OS than Android, and those are real costs, too.
Microsoft's problem is that their business model is one of making money by selling OS licenses. Google makes money by nudging you toward using Google search products, the Google Play store, and so forth. So Google can give away the OS for free and still make money, though they don't really make that much money on Android. If Microsoft gives away the OS for free, then they lose money on Windows.
And whats scary is that almost all of those ATMs are running Windows XP...
True, a lot of odd stuff uses Windows. Like the in-flight entertainment system in most airlines uses a really old custom version of Windows 3.1. But these embedded systems aren't a massive number of sales, and for every one device that may run Windows behind the scenes, there are probably 150 that run Linux/Un*x of some fashion (every Android, every iOS, nearly every DVR, router, in-dash automobile entertainment, NAS, and then some).
Microsoft's bread and butter were the hundreds of millions of PCs that were out there, and they were opening to crack that nut on the mobile version as well - because as big as the PC market is, the mobile market is orders of magnitude larger. At this point though, and as far behind the curve as Microsoft is, it would be hard for them to actually make anything on the mobile market by licensing, given that the two major players don't make any of their mobile money that way.
Although, looking at the history of the mobile market, anything is possible. I can think of two separate instances where a company/system had a commanding lead and looked unstoppable (Nokia/Symbian and Blackberry) only to be virtually nonexistent 2 years after some disruptive event shook up the market.