Moto Would Consider Nokia-type Deal with Microsoft
 

Motorola has been riding high recently with the popularity of its Android-based line of smartphones -- but what would if Moto made a deal to ship Microsoft Windows Phone as its chief smartphone operating system?

Unthinkable?

Motorola Mobility (NYSE: MMI) is one of a list of smartphone makers who have embraced open source Android, so much so that Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT0 sued Motorola for infringement last fall over patents that the software titan claims it owns that are used in Android.

That might help provide some of the motivation for Motorola Mobility CEO Sanjay Jha to tell investment analysts attending Oppenheimer's 14th Annual Technology and Communication Conference this week that he would consider a deal with Microsoft if it were structured like the one Nokia signed with Microsoft in February, according to published reports.

"I think we're completely open to the notion of Windows as a platform," Jha reportedly said in an appearance at the Oppenheimer conference, which was reported by Fierce Wireless.

Such a deal may be remote, however.

"Clearly, all of our focus today is on Android," Fierce Wireless quoted Jha as saying.

Jha's statements were also confirmed by Business Insider, which also attended the conference
"In other words -- a big up-front payment of at least $2 billion, marketing assistance, freedom to customize the software, and early looks at future versions of Microsoft's phone software," Business Insider said.

Microsoft and Finnish handset maker Nokia signed an exclusive deal in mid-February to put Windows Phone on every smartphone the mobile company makes, in exchange for Microsoft marketing support, early availability to new designs, and what's been termed "billions" in subsidies from the software giant.

In return, Nokia dropped all development on its other smartphone operating systems, including Symbian and MeeGo. The first Windows Phone-based Nokia smartphones are slated to rollout in time for the holiday sales season.

In the meantime, Microsoft has been making a small side-business charging royalties to other Android licensees -- as much as $15 per unit -- from vendors who decided not to fight Microsoft in court. That tactic in itself has resulted in some tit-for-tat between Microsoft and Android's author Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) earlier this month.

Neither Microsoft nor Motorola responded to requests for comment by publication.

Stuart J. Johnston is a contributing editor at InternetNews.com, the news service of Internet.com, the network for technology professionals. Follow him on Twitter @stuartj1000