Android Co-Founder Blames Bill Gates For Microsoft's Smartphone Battle Loss

Rich Miner, co-founder of Android, pinned Microsoft's mobile market loss on Bill Gates, claiming that Gates was responsible for Android's victory in the smartphone wars. This comes after Gates admitted in a recent interview that losing Android was one of Microsoft’s “greatest mistakes,” costing the company an estimated $400 billion in market value.

Responding to X (formerly Twitter), Miner wrote, “I literally helped create Android to prevent Microsoft from controlling the phone the way they did the PC—stifling innovation. So it’s always funny for me to hear Gates whine about losing mobile to Android.

“I wanted something more open. So, sorry Bill, you’re more responsible for losing the $400B than you realize,” Miner added. His comments suggest that Android was conceived not just as a product but as a countermeasure to prevent Microsoft from controlling the mobile landscape.

During an interview with Eventbrite CEO Julia Hartz, Gates admitted that missing the opportunity to dominate the smartphone platform was one of Microsoft's worst mistakes. "The greatest mistake of all time is the mismanagement I engaged in that caused Microsoft not to be what Android is," Mr. Gates stated. He claimed that this error cost the company approximately $400 billion, a value that Google's Android eventually surpassed.