ASUS signs patent licensing deal with Microsoft, will pre-install Office suite on its Android devices
Microsoft, ASUS sign combined Android patent, Office bundling deal — Is Microsoft making Office software and services part of its Android-patent-licensing negotiation terms?
Context & Ripple Effects
The ASUS agreement extends a year of quiet dealmaking in which Microsoft has been trading its Android patent claims for Office distribution. In February it settled its contract dispute over Android patent payments with Samsung ([[a:826292]]), and by March it had signed Dell, Pegatron, and eight regional OEMs to preinstall Office and Skype on their Android devices while deepening the Samsung partnership to tablets.
What changed this week is that ASUS — one of the larger global Android vendors — has joined that bundle-for-licensing exchange, following July's Kyocera cross-licensing settlement. The question ZDNet flags is whether pre-installing Office is now becoming a standard term of Microsoft's Android licensing negotiations rather than an optional sweetener.
First-order effects
- ASUS gets a license covering the Android patents in Microsoft's portfolio, and in exchange ships devices with Office pre-installed — adding Microsoft apps to its out-of-box software at no separate commercial negotiation.
Second-order effects
- Rival Android makers face a growing precedent: with Samsung, Kyocera, Dell, Pegatron and now ASUS bundled in, staying unlicensed means standing out as the vendor exposed to Microsoft's patent claims — pushing holdouts toward similar deals or toward litigation risk.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds — as it did when [[a:870151|Xiaomi later bought patents from Microsoft and cross-licensed the rest to preinstall Office and Skype]] — Microsoft's Android patent income converts into services distribution on Google's platform, making Office a default fixture on Android regardless of which OEM wins device market share.
The trend: Microsoft is converting its Android patent position into distribution leverage, turning licensing negotiations into a vehicle for putting Office on competing mobile platforms.