Microsoft reportedly considers letting consumers pick a device and then its OS: Windows Phone or Android
We've already heard rumors that Microsoft has courted smartphone OEMs to offer dual-boot options for Windows Phone and Android, as well as looked at cutting the licensing fees that it normally charges device makers.
Context & Ripple Effects
This report extends an arc Microsoft has been building since at least October 2013, when Bloomberg reported talks with HTC to put Windows on Android phones at little or no cost. The new twist, per The Next Web and picked up the same day by The Information, CNET, ZDNet, GeekWire and others, is a consumer-facing version of the same idea: buyers pick the hardware first, then choose Windows Phone or Android — with dual-boot configurations and slashed licensing fees both on the table.
Every element here is reported as unconfirmed, but the breadth of same-day pickup across mainstream and Windows-focused outlets signals the industry read the signal as credible: after years of charging device makers per license, Microsoft appears willing to pay for Windows Phone shelf space instead.
First-order effects
- OEMs such as HTC gain a way to ship Windows Phone without eating a licensing fee, removing the main cost objection that has kept the OS off most Android-first lineups.
- Consumers would get devices where the OS is a selection at purchase rather than a fixed property of the hardware, directly expanding Windows Phone's addressable install base.
Second-order effects
- Android handset makers can hedge against Google's control of their primary OS by offering a Windows option on the same silicon, weakening the exclusivity that has underpinned Android's OEM relationships.
- If licensing fees fall toward zero, Microsoft shifts the Windows Phone business case from per-device revenue to ecosystem monetization — apps, services and search defaults — pressuring rivals who still charge for platform access.
Third-order effects
- A sustained move to free-or-cheap licensing would restructure mobile OS competition around distribution deals and services revenue rather than software margins — the model Google already runs on Android, now matched by Microsoft.
- Dual-boot and buyer-choice hardware blurs the boundary between platforms, making app ecosystems and cloud services, not the OS itself, the locus of lock-in.
The trend: Mobile operating systems are shifting from licensed products priced per device to freely distributed layers whose owners compete on services and ecosystem reach — with Microsoft, per these reports, considering joining the model it once charged for.