Microsoft confirmed Wednesday that it will drop the manufacturer’s royalty fee for the Windows 10 operating system for devices under 9 inches in size, as part of its efforts to see 1 billion devices running on the OS.

Eddie Wu, general manager of the consumer channels group at Microsoft Taiwan, cited Microsoft OEM Hardware and Marketing Lead-Worldwide Marlowe Dayley as saying that the software giant has decided to continue its free licensing program for original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and original design manufacturer (ODM) partners as it did last year.

But Microsoft has not finalized the hardware specifications for under-9-inch devices such as phones and small tablets that are eligible for the free licensing program for Windows 10, Wu told a press briefing after Microsoft’s keynote speech at Computex Taipei.

Dealers have estimated that global shipments of Windows-based devices of under 9 inches will increase by nearly 40% year-on-year to around 50 million units in 2015, according to a report published Wednesday by the Economic Daily News.

SOURCE: wantchinatimes.com