Microsoft Reportedly Willing To Let HTC Use Windows Phone For Free

Microsoft is reportedly keen for HTC to continue using Windows Phone and is willing to waive the license fee it usually demands for the use of its mobile operating system.

HTC has produced Windows Phone handsets in the past, most recently the HTC 8X and 8S that launched with Windows Phone 8, but apparently has no plans to produce any more.

Its most recent flagship smartphone, the HTC One, runs Android, for which Google does not charge a licence fee, though it does require phone makers to use Google services such as search and maps.

HTC Windows Phone

According to Bloomberg, Terry Myerson, head of Microsoft’s operating systems unit, has held talks with HTC, although it is unclear whether this means an HTC phone would dual boot with both Windows Phone and Android, or if users would be able to choose a default.

Windows Phone is pitched as an alternative to the ‘duopoly’ of Android and iOS, but it is only recently that it has made a significant impact. It now commands 12 percent of the UK smartphone market and 9.2 percent of all sales in the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.

The success of Nokia’s mid-range handsets has been widely cited as the main reason for the platform’s recent success, and Microsoft recently announced it was to purchase the Finnish manufacturer’s handset business for £4.6 billion. However it is also keen for other major smartphone makers to back the platform.

HTC has struggled to compete with Samsung in the Android market, and a renewal of its Window3s Phone efforts would require it to compete with a Microsoft-backed Nokia. However it might feel it wise to hedge ts bets, given the success of mid-range handsets running the Microsoft operating system the platform, and the fact HTC posted its first ever quarterly loss last week.

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