Bill Gates: Letting Google dominate the mobile market with Android my 'greatest mistake'

'The greatest mistake ever is whatever mismanagement I engaged in that caused Microsoft not to be what Android is' - Gates

Letting Google take over the mobile market with the Android operating system was Microsoft founder Bill Gates's "greatest mistake" of his professional life.

The semi-retired Microsoft co-founder acknowledged how his company was outmanoeuvred by Google in mobile, despite having a decade's development advantage over the company.

The greatest mistake ever is whatever mismanagement I engaged in that caused Microsoft not to be what Android is

Gates was talking to Eventbrite co-founder Julia Hartz at the Village Global event last week. He talked in detail about his career, his work-life balance, and what needs to be done to create and sustain a successful business.

"In the software world, in particular for platforms, these are winner-take-all markets," said Gates.

"So, you know, the greatest mistake ever is whatever mismanagement I engaged in that caused Microsoft not to be what Android is, [meaning] Android is the standard non-Apple phone form platform."

"That was a natural thing for Microsoft to win," he added.

According to Gates, there was room for only one non-Apple operating system in the smartphone industry, which was eventually filled by Google's Android OS.

Google's Android and Apple's iOS are currently the world's two most popular mobile operating systems. While iOS is restricted to iPhones, Android runs virtually all other smartphones manufactured by mobile companies worldwide.

Google acquired start-up company Android in 2005 for about $50 million. For next three years, Google's Android team worked to develop an operating system for mobile devices. The operating system was eventually launched in 2008 on the T-Mobile G1 phone.

While Microsoft always sought to charge a licence fee for its competing Windows Mobile operating system, and the major mobile phone makers coalesced around Symbian, Google offered Android under an open source licence.

Google's business twist was that it would make money via what is now called the Play Store, combined with advertising pushed via services.

Today, Android is the most widely used mobile operating system in the world. Android is currently used in about 85 per cent of all new smartphones shipped worldwide, according to Gartner.

In May 2017, Google announced that there were more than two billion active Android devices in the world, increasing to 2.5 billion by May 2019.

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According to Gates, Microsoft still enjoys a "very strong" position in the computer industry, but it would have been "the leading company" rather than "a leading company" had it capitalised on its early advantages in mobile.

Windows CE was launched in November 1996, and this formed the basis for Windows Mobile, which was first released in April 2000. In 2017, though, the company effectively gave up, announcing end of support for what had become the Windows Phone operating system.

During the event, the billionaire philanthropist also talked about the sacrifices he had made during the early years of his career that, according to him, included work during vacations and over weekends.

It is nice if during those first several years, you have a team that has chosen to be pretty maniacal about the company

Once he reached his 30s, though, he relaxed a bit and started taking vacations and weekends.

"I have a fairly hardcore view that there should be a very large sacrifice made during those early years, particularly if you're trying to do some engineering things that you have to get the feasibility," Gates said.

Gates also highlighted the significance of mutual understanding among team members in a company.

"It is nice if during those first several years, you have a team that has chosen to be pretty maniacal about the company, and how far that goes, you should have a mutual understanding. So you're not one person expecting one thing, and another person expecting another thing."

Forbes currently ranks Gates as the world's second-richest person, with a net worth of $102.9 billion.

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