Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, recently admitted to making a costly mistake that resulted in the company missing out on a $400 billion opportunity in the mobile market. During an interview with Eventbrite CEO Julia Hartz, Gates acknowledged that his mismanagement led to Microsoft’s failure to become the dominant non-Apple mobile operating system. “The greatest mistake ever is the mismanagement that caused Microsoft not to be what Android is,” Gates confessed.
He explained that creating a versatile and customizable mobile operating system similar to Android would have been “a natural thing for Microsoft to win.”
However, various management issues and antitrust problems prevented Microsoft from capitalizing on this opportunity. As a result, Google acquired Android in 2005 and launched its first device in 2008, while Apple had already introduced the iPhone in 2007. Gates emphasized the competitive nature of platform markets, stating, “In the software world, particularly for platforms, these are winner-take-all markets.
Bill Gates admits costly mistake
There’s room for exactly one non-Apple operating system, and what’s that worth? $400 billion that would be transferred from Google to Microsoft.”
Android co-founder Rich Miner also weighed in on Microsoft’s missed opportunity.
Miner revealed that he helped create Android to prevent Microsoft from dominating the mobile space as they had with PCs. “So, sorry, Bill, you’re more responsible for losing the $400B than you realize,” Miner concluded. Despite this significant misstep, Microsoft remains one of the world’s most valuable companies, competing against Apple and NVIDIA.
The tech giant continues to enjoy success through its wide range of products and has recently seen gains due to early investments and the adoption of generative AI across its tech stack.
