http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/368500/sams ... roid-phone

Could this push up the price of Android phones? Or perhaps make Android phone makers reduce the number that are made?

It will put up the price no matter what. Though will it give Nokia some extra breathing room in terms of price.

TBH if I was Samsung I'd pay something for US handsets, but for shipments in the EU I'd tell Microsoft to take a hike.

This is old news. Just look at how much they all have to pay Nokia and Ericsson(including Apple)... It is a quagmire of patent intertangling. To make a phone, you need to use a couple of hundred patents from different companies, just for the wirless side of the equation, before you move onto the UI...

But this isn't just for the US market on a pure licence only.... most of the manufacturers do it including HTC, however it is apparently also a part of the join in or bugger off approach for the licences for generating next gen hardware such as Windows 8 and other production deals