Microsoft to 'Support' Sony's Windows Phone Ambitions with $500 Million

Sony hasn’t made this Windows Phone ambitions a secret and has even gone on record about it:

We don’t want to be a single OS manufacturer, I don’t think it’s a viable position in the long-term.

While Windows Mobile has a long way to go and is a distant third behind iOS and Android, the fact that so much of Microsoft’s future hangs upon it meets that it’s likely a platform that will viable for years to come. Microsoft is also a company with deep pockets, capable of out spending their competitors in marketing and R&D. While neither necessarily translate to success, it can turn into a great payday for a company like Sony who already creates Windows 8 desktops and Ultrabooks. Now Russian blogger Eldar Murtazin has chimed in on the matter with his own two cents.

Windows phone 8 in 2014 – Samsung 1.2 bln USD, Sony 0.5 bln, Huawei 0.6 bln, others – 0.3 bln. Thats “support” from MS to develop one (1!)hs

— Eldar Murtazin (@eldarmurtazin) January 15, 2014

According to Murtazin, Microsoft is ready to pay partners handsomely, including Sony who is expected to get $500 million in support if they create a Windows Mobile device. It’s currently unclear what support translates to. Is it R&D? Marketing? Both? It’s also worth noting that Murtazin has a spotty track record at best. Still, the rumor does go in line with what we’ve heard which is that Microsoft is looking to get more aggressive about its Windows Mobile plans and their deep pockets will play a part in that.

It’s worth noting that the above image is a old Photochop done by me and not an actual rendering of what a Sony Windows Phone could look like.