According to one analyst, Android yields about $2 billion per year to Microsoft: a welcome annuity whose origin lies in the patent agreements established between the company and manufacturers of smartphones and tablets.

In an article written by Rick Sherlund, analyst at Nomura report, Microsoft draw its juicy income from patents used by manufacturers of Android devices. Through agreements including intellectual property signed with Foxconn, HTC, Acer or Samsung, the Redmond company would receive annually $2 billion in fees directly related to the OS, with a margin of 95% to say if the operation is profitable.

Xbox 360

The analyst goes further and adds that these revenues would allow Microsoft to replenish the accounts of its Entertainment and Devices division, which includes the Xbox and Windows Phone. This branch of the activities of the firm, which seems relatively profitable, would actually deficit for several years but the losses would be masked by the royalties collected around patents related to Android.