Cyanogen Inc. reported to get investment from Microsoft
In weird news today, Microsoft is reportedly going to invest in Cyanogen Inc., called as a rogue Android startup by The Wall Street Journal in its report. The company is a minority investor in the $70 million round of funding.
Microsoft has been known to invest in many small startups, some of which have gone on to becoming very successful. The Redmond has, however, been unable to get Windows Phone off the ground. Even 5 years after launching its Android and iOS competitor, it has only achieved 3% of the smartphone marketshare globally.
Google, on the other hand, has seen Android grow tremendously, notching up ~81% of the global smartphone marketshare. In the last year, there were a billion Android phones shipped around the world, a staggering statistic in and of itself. According to the report, investors leading this round of funding want to try and diminish some of Google’s dominance.
There were reports recently about Cyanogen Inc wanting to have its own app store in a few years, so this does sound plausible, however foolhardy it may be.
