“Sorry Bill”: the surprising revelation of one of the creators of Android

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One of Bill Gates’ biggest regrets is his failure to position Microsoft as a major player in the smartphone market. In 2019, during an interview with Eventbrite founder Julia Hartz, Gates explained that there was only one place to take, to become the main platform for iPhone competitors. And that place was taken by Android, when it could have been occupied by Windows. Furthermore, the founder of Microsoft believes that his company let a $400 billion opportunity slip away.

Recently, this interview with Bill Gates came back into the news, following the publication of an article by Unilad on the subject. This article caused a reaction from Rich Miner, one of the founders of Android. “I literally helped create Android to prevent Microsoft from controlling the phone like they did the PC, thereby stifling innovation. So it’s always funny to me to hear Gates complain about how Android was losing mobile,” he wrote in his post.

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In another post, Miner goes on to say that he worked with a carrier to launch a Windows Mobile phone in 2002. “I was worried that MSFT would end up controlling mobile like they did the PC, I wanted something more open. So, sorry, Bill, you are more responsible for the loss of the $400 billion than you think,” he also wrote, in this second publication.

Satya Nadella also regrets

Despite missing out on the opportunity to establish itself as one of the major players in the smartphone market, Microsoft has been trying to push the mobile version of Windows for years. However, despite its efforts (and the acquisition of Nokia’s mobile division), it has not managed to break the Android and iOS duopoly. And in 2019, the company officially ended support for Windows 10 Mobile.

The definitive abandonment of the mobile version of Windows is today considered one of Microsoft’s worst mistakes by its current CEO, Satya Nadella. In a 2023 interview with Business Insider, he said that in hindsight, he thinks Microsoft could have made it work.

• Rich Miner, one of the creators of Android, says he wanted a more open system to prevent Microsoft from controlling smartphones the way it controls PCs
• He accuses Microsoft of stifling innovation
• According to Bill Gates, Microsoft let a $400 billion opportunity slip away by allowing Android to become the platform for iPhone competitors

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