Microsoft and Foxconn, the world's largest manufacturer of consumer electronics, just made a deal that will give Microsoft a cut of every Android device Foxconn makes.

The terms of the deal weren't disclosed, but Microsoft did say it would be getting royalties from Hon Hai, the parent company of Foxconn, under the agreement. Foxconn assembles about 40% of the world's electronic devices; it follows in the steps of other contract manufacturers — notably Pegatron — that also have deals with Microsoft to build devices that run Android and Chrome operating systems.

Although Google is the chief architect and ostensible owner of the Android platform, Microsoft holds several key patents behind its operation. Besides contract manufacturers, several Android device makers — including Samsung, LG and HTC — have agreed to pay royalties to Microsoft to use Android in their products.

It's unknown how much money Microsoft makes from Android, but it's generally thought to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars every year.

The deal — and Microsoft's promotion of it (the press release was purposefully emailed twice by Microsoft public relations) — is another skirmish of Microsoft's cold war with Google, which has been challenging Microsoft's traditional software business with "free" cloud-based versions of productivity tools such as email clients and document editors. While Google doesn't charge manufacturers to use Android, Microsoft, via its intellectual property, does.

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