Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates cites the dominance of Android in the mobile space as his greatest mistake in the Redmond firm's history.
Speaking with TechCruch, Gates spoke about the "winner-take-all" markets that exist in the software world, saying that there is only room for one non-Apple operating system. Of course, that operating system is Android, and Gates claims it is worth about $400 billion.
"So, you know, the greatest mistake ever is the whatever mismanagement I engaged in that caused Microsoft not to be what Android is, [meaning] Android is the standard non-Apple phone form platform," Gates told TechCruch.
"That was a natural thing for Microsoft to win."
While Gates did acknowledge that Microsoft is still very much a leader in the software space with assets like Windows and Office performing strongly, he bemoans the fact that Microsoft really messed up in the mobile space, which makes sense given that Windows Mobile precedes Android by many years.
"So this idea that just small differences can magnify themselves doesn't exist for a lot of businesses. You know, if you're a service business, it doesn't exist. But for software platforms, it's absolutely gigantic. And so that's partly where you have the mentality of every night you think, 'Am I screwing this up?' And eventually, we did screw up a super important one."
Source: TechCrunch
"So, you know, the greatest mistake ever is the whatever mismanagement I engaged in that caused Microsoft not to be what Android is, [meaning] Android is the standard non-Apple phone form platform," Gates told TechCruch.
"That was a natural thing for Microsoft to win."
While Gates did acknowledge that Microsoft is still very much a leader in the software space with assets like Windows and Office performing strongly, he bemoans the fact that Microsoft really messed up in the mobile space, which makes sense given that Windows Mobile precedes Android by many years.
"So this idea that just small differences can magnify themselves doesn't exist for a lot of businesses. You know, if you're a service business, it doesn't exist. But for software platforms, it's absolutely gigantic. And so that's partly where you have the mentality of every night you think, 'Am I screwing this up?' And eventually, we did screw up a super important one."
Source: TechCrunch
