Bill’s biggest bungle

Bill Gates. © Village Global.

During an interview organised by venture capital firm Village Global, Bill Gates said that his greatest regret was failing to lead Microsoft in the smartphone race, leaving the field wide open for Google. Gates took full responsibility for the failure. Microsoft was slow to recognize the dawning of the smartphone era, failing to take an early lead. When Windows Phone finally launched at the end of 2010, it was too little, too late: Google already led the pack, closely followed by Apple. How much did this mistake cost Microsoft? Some 400 billion dollars, says Bill Gates. An amount that coulda shoulda been transferred from “company G” to “company M”. An amount that spells the difference between being “a leading company” and “the leading company”.

⇨ Ars Technica, “Bill Gates calls failure to fight Android his ‘greatest mistake’.”