Rich Miner, an Android co-founder, had one of the most logical reactions to the admission by Bill Gates that one of his company's biggest mistakes was its failure in the mobile market, which cost it around $400 billion in losses. Miner maintains that Bill Gates was the poster boy for Microsoft's collapse in the mobile area.
Miner, who was part of the team that created Android, said the aim was to prevent Microsoft from dominating the mobile industry as it did with personal computers. He recalled his concerns about Microsoft's monopolistic approach while working on the first Windows Mobile phone and explained that Android was built as an open alternative.
Miner directly told Gates, "Sorry Bill, you're more responsible for losing the $400B than you realize," pointing out that Android was created as a response to Microsoft's control over the mobile market.
Photo Credit: x.com/richminer
In an interview with Eventbrite CEO Julia Hartz, Gates admitted that his company's failure to capture the smartphone market was a major error. "The greatest mistake of all time is the mismanagement I engaged in that caused Microsoft not to be what Android is," Gates said. He estimated the loss at $400 billion, which was taken by Google's Android.
Microsoft's failure to compete in the smartphone market was largely due to its delayed debut into the industry. Although Google introduced Android in 2008 and Apple transformed the industry with the iPhone in 2007, Microsoft didn't release Windows Phone 7 until 2010, two years after Android and three years after the iPhone.
With 99.9% of the market for mobile operating systems, Apple and Android were able to dominate because of this delay by Bill Gates. Microsoft struggled to acquire market penetration and eventually terminated its Windows Phone platform as makers began to embrace Android, an open, configurable platform.
