Microsoft should have been Apple's challenger in mobile, says Bill Gates

It should have been Microsoft posing the main competition to Apple in mobile platforms, not Google, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates commented in a recent interview.

"In the software world, particularly for platforms, these are winner-take-all markets," Gates told venture capital business Village Global, cited by The Verge. "So the greatest mistake ever is whatever mismanagement I engaged in that caused Microsoft not to be what Android is. That is, Android is the standard non-Apple phone platform."

Mobile "was a natural thing for Microsoft to win," he continued, though further admitting that the margin for success is slim.

"It really is winner take all," he said. "If you're there with half as many apps or 90% as many apps, you're on your way to complete doom. There's room for exactly one non-Apple operating system and what's that worth? $400 billion that would be transferred from company G to company M."

Microsoft was already in the smartphone OS business prior to Apple and Google, having launched Windows Mobile in 2003. Even after Google bought Android in 2005 and Apple launched the iPhone in 2007, however, Microsoft was slow to react, only debuting a modern OS — Windows Phone — in 2010.

The company never caught up to Apple or Google in terms of features, apps, or popularity, even after its Nokia takeover, ultimately ending support for Windows Phone in 2017.

Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer infamously dismissed the iPhone's chances because of its lack of a keyboard, which in 2007 was de facto on top-end smartphones.

Windows remains the dominant OS in desktop and laptop PCs, despite inroads by Macs. The platform seized the lead in the early 1990s and remains difficult for Apple to unseat. Low-end Dell PCs for example can cost as little as $380, whereas the cheapest new Mac is a $799 Mac mini. Additionally, Apple doesn't ship discrete graphics in anything on the lower end of its product lineup.

44 Comments

gatorguy 24608 comments · 13 Years

About 5 years ago

"Google acquired Android back in 2005 for $50 million, and former CEO Eric Schmidt admitted that Google’s initial focus was beating Microsoft’s early Windows Mobile efforts. “At the time we were very concerned that Microsoft’s mobile strategy would be successful,” said Schmidt during a 2012 legal fight with Oracle about Java. Android ultimately killed Windows Mobile and Windows Phone off, and became the Windows equivalent in the mobile world.
Gates’ admission is somewhat surprising, though. Many had assumed that Microsoft’s missed mobile opportunity was a Steve Ballmer era mistake. Ballmer famously laughed at the iPhone, calling it the “most expensive phone in the world and it doesn’t appeal to business customers because it doesn’t have a keyboard.” While Ballmer accepted the iPhone could go on to sell well, he crucially missed the touch-friendly era it was ushering in, and laughed off its lack of a keyboard.
This was a key part of Microsoft’s early mobile mistakes, and it came from the very top.
Gates said that, without his mistake, Microsoft would today be the biggest company in the world.
“It’s amazing to me that having made one of the greatest mistakes of all time, and there was this antitrust lawsuit and various things, that our other assets like Windows and Office are still very strong, so we are a leading company,” says Gates. “If we had gotten that one right, we would be the leading company, but oh well.”

Fun Fact: Samsung could have had Android for all to themselves in mid-Dec 2004, but they pretty much laughed Rubin and Danger out of the room when they visited Korea to pitch it. No interest, waste of time. By the first week of January 2005 tho it was Google who approached Danger and ultimately purchasing them in February 2005. ...And there went Windows Mobile.

rotateleftbyte 1630 comments · 12 Years

About 5 years ago

If we look at the Netbook platform that was specified by MS then all the reasons for the failure of the Windows Phones is there for all to see. They hobbled the spec to ensure that it would eventually fail. Google didn't put those sort of restrictions on the hardware used by phone makers using Android as their software platform. MS typically wants to keep really tight control of everything. That is their nature. That is another reason why Windows phones are dead as the dodo.

gutengel 363 comments · 7 Years

About 5 years ago

Maybe they shouldn't focus so much on making a f**king funeral for the iPhone and instead do actual work!

ChampionPower 52 comments · 8 Years

About 5 years ago

Steve Ballmer the MSFT CEO shares synergy blame on this missed opportunity! The MSFT stock was flatlined for a decade while Ballmer did nothing to expand the firms narkets.