Analyst reveals that Microsoft earns $1.6 billion a year from Android, five times more than from Windows Phone

"ZDNet has managed to get its hands on an interesting report from Nomura, a financial services company, which shows that Google’s Android is proving to be a major breadwinner for Microsoft.

Due to licensing agreements between the two technology giants, Microsoft netted $1.6 billion from Android over the latest financial year.

Perhaps the most interesting revelation is that this money from Android is actually plugging a deep hole caused by some of Microsoft’s other Entertainment and Device Division (EDD) projects, such as Skype and Windows Phone. Estimates suggest that Xbox is by far one of the biggests costs to the company, which is currently losing Microsoft around $2 billion a year. Without royalties from Android, the EED would be losing around $2.5 billion a year in total."