In a recent interview, Microsoft founder Bill Gates discussed Microsoft’s business and one of its biggest mistakes: Windows Phone. Gates stated that his biggest mistake ever was the mismanagement he engaged in that led to Microsoft not being what Android is.
Gates later went on to state that there’s only room for a single non-Apple operating system in the market, and having half the apps or even 90% of the apps would have a company on its way to “complete doom”. That was obviously the case for Microsoft, with the lack of modern apps continuing to be a problem for the company’s platform even today.
Bill Gates even put a value of $400 billion on the Android business, which just goes to show how much of a big market Microsoft missed out on. There really is no point in discussing history anymore though, and we all know about the 8-10 years that led to the disaster Microsoft’s mobile business was as compared to Google’s Android and Apple’s iPhones.
Gates did, however, note that Microsoft’s Windows and Office assets continue to be very strong even after its biggest mistake that was Windows Phone. “It’s amazing to me that having made one of the biggest mistakes of all time, that our other assets Windows and Office are still very strong. So we are a leading company, but if we had gotten that one right, we would be the leading company”. Ouch.
Tagged with Bill Gates, Microsoft, Windows Mobile, Windows Phone
