JAKARTA - Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, recently spoke openly about the major mistakes he considered a moment of defining his career. In an event hosted by venture capital firm Village Global, Gates revealed how Microsoft's failure to dominate the mobile operating system market caused losses of up to 400 billion US dollars (Rp6.5 quadrillion) for the company.
In the software world, especially for platforms, this is a market where the winner takes everything, Gates said in his discussion with Eventbrite CEO Julia Hartz. My biggest mistake is management error which caused Microsoft to fail to become like Android. Android is a standard platform for non-Apple phones, which Microsoft should have won," he said.
Gates estimates that if Microsoft manages to secure a second place in the mobile operating system market, the company could make a profit of $400 billion, which now belongs to Google.
After the launch of the iPhone in June 2007, Android followed in September 2008. Meanwhile, Microsoft was late in entering the market by launching the Windows Phone 7 in October 2010. At that time, Android and iOS had dominated the market by controlling 99.9% market share.
If you come with only half or even 90% of the number of apps, you're definitely heading for failure, Gates added, highlighting how important an app ecosystem is in determining the success of a platform.
Microsoft's late decision to enter the mobile market is in stark contrast to their dominance in the PC market. The Windows operating system changed the world of personal computing in the 1990s and remains the main pillar of the company's valuation which now reaches $3 trillion. However, Gates admits, "If we succeed in the mobile market, Microsoft will become the number one company."
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Gates' comments sparked a response from Rich Miner, co-founder of Android, who delivered sharp criticism through platform X (formerly Twitter):
I literally helped create Android to prevent Microsoft from controlling phones like they do on PCs blocking innovation. So it's always funny to hear Gates complain about Microsoft's defeat in the mobile market.
Miner insists that Android, with its open source model, is designed to provide alternatives to closed ecosystems such as Microsoft and Apple.
Microsoft's failure to compete in the mobile market is a reminder that even large companies with abundant resources can lose strategic opportunities. Now, Microsoft remains a major player in the tech sector, but this "biggest mistake" is a reminder of the importance of timely decision making.
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