Microsoft wants Samsung to pay smartphone license: report

SEOUL (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp has demanded that Samsung Electronics Co Ltd pay $15 for each smartphone handset it makes based on Google Inc's Android operating system as the software giant has a wide range of patents used in the mobile platform, local media reported on Wednesday.

Samsung would likely seek to lower the payment to about $10 in exchange for a deeper alliance with Microsoft for the U.S. company's Windows platform, the Maeil Business Newspaper quoted unnamed industry officials as saying.

Samsung had no immediate comment.

In April last year, Microsoft said it had reached a licensing deal with Taiwan's HTC Corp, under which it would receive royalty payments on its handsets running Android.

The move comes as Android phones gain in popularity. Microsoft charges handset makers such as HTC and Samsung to use its Windows mobile software and has tied up with Nokia to challenge Google and Apple Inc in the smartphone market.

Analysts forecast Samsung, the world's No.2 handset maker, to have sold about 19 million smartphones in the April-June quarter, with the dominant position running on Android. It is widely expected to emerge as the No.1 smartphone maker, replacing Nokia's more than 10-year reign.

Samsung's Galaxy S II, successor to its flagship Galaxy S smartphone, which runs on the Android platform, has sold more than 3 million units since its debut in late April.

(Reporting by Miyoung Kim; Editing by Chris Lewis)