Microsoft's Windows Phone president Andy Lees seized the opportunity of the Google buyout of Motorola to claim perceived superiority in smartphones. In a statement, he argued that Android now couldn't be trusted because Google would invariably give Motorola preferential treatment. He sidestepped the question of whether the patents would help Google and instead portrayed Windows Phone as the 'open' platform.
"Investing in a broad and truly open mobile ecosystem is important for the industry and consumers alike, and Windows Phone is now the only platform that does so with equal opportunity for all partners," Lees said.
While Windows Phone is now more equal, the statement carries a degree of irony given Microsoft's attempt to replicate the tightly integrated but more closed ecosystem of Apple, not Google. Windows Phone partners have to abide by a rigid set of guidelines for hardware and default software loadouts, and they aren't allowed to modify the interface itself. Microsoft doesn't provide source code.
Equality is also considered somewhat suspect given repeated claims that Microsoft gives discounts on Android patent royalties depending on whether or not a company also offers Windows Phone.
The statement was nonetheless expected from Microsoft, which was unlikely to characterize any move as hurtful to its own platform. Microsoft's chances in existing anti-Android legal action might not change, but it now has to consider the possibility of a Google countersuit should it target anyone else. Windows Phone sales are mostly flat.
