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.
"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.
Comments
Gates said that, without his mistake, Microsoft would today be the biggest company in the world.
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.Now I ask (again), what is stopping other companies with coming up with original ideas? Apple does not have a monopoly on ideas. We clearly see this happen in markets which Apple does not operate, so why are tech companies, with their billions, so afraid to make a genuine effort and create a new product.
Apple needs to re-evaluate their Mac mini offering and provide a friendlier price.
- Fumbled on the Internet's rise, but recovered with monopolistic moves.
- Tried to go up against the iPod and iPad and failed miserably with a crappy OS.
- Screwed their users with various incompatible music apps.
- Botched Windows Phone repeatably with crappy hardware, with some exceptions, and an ever moving mobile OS that was not backwards compatible.
The only thing that saved them is that Windows and office are the defecto selection in most businesses. There "eat your own dog food" business model failed them multiple times. Thankfully the new CEO got them back on track and opened everything up with significant improvements to their products. Ballmer worked to run them into the ground and was almost successful.No. Just imagine the wailing and gnashing of teeth over a $400 Mac. It would be a laughing stock of non performance.