Apple has won the infringement suit that it filed against Samsung and was awarded a whopping award of $1.05 billion but there might be another giant that could stand to gain from it. Thanks to the legal issues that are surrounding the Android platform now, the Microsoft Windows Phone OS is beginning to look more promising. The happiness from Microsoft’s end was quite evident as the ruling against Samsung laid the precedent against Android and not just in the Untied States but across the world. The Windows Phone platform doesn’t have any legal complications surrounding it and might be the way out for Android device manufacturers if the legal consequences spread.
Microsoft’s market share may not increase right away but it can work, expectant of results in pushing its platform forward. It can offer the Windows Phone as an alternate to Android in their competition against Apple and can also focus on working with manufacturers to develop dedicated and unique hardware. The major advantage here is that Microsoft has a lot of experience in fighting for patents as it has been on the winning end several times. Currently, it collects licensing fees from Android device manufacturers and is right now engaged in a battle against Motorola alleging that the latter infringed on patents relating to the Xbox 360.
The software giant is also in a cross licensing deal with Apple and it is relatively immune to legal attacks on that front. Analysts believe that if Google is unable to blunt Apple’s intellectual property with the patents it bought from Motorola, Microsoft will be the clear winner as manufacturers will rather build a Windows Phone than pay Microsoft and perhaps even Apple to develop an Android one.
Microsoft will continue to partner with Nokia for developing Windows Phone devices. The deal is not just about collaboration but Microsoft stands to gain from the well known design innovation on Nokia’s end and the Finnish smartphone manufacturer might just get back in the scene. Nokia’s devices are also well protected against Apple’s suits in terms of design as they are completely innovative and maintain unique designs. With Apple pressing hard against Samsung over Android, the Korean giant might have no choice but to either switch to a new platform or modify the OS further. Its Windows Phone devices are already quite popular and it will definitely work if it brings out more of those.
