Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates says he messed up the company's opportunity to develop Windows Mobile because he was distracted by its antitrust case brought by the Justice Department.
Had he not been distracted, Gates believes Windows Mobile would be what Android is today.
"There's no doubt that the antitrust lawsuit was bad for Microsoft, and we would have been more focused on creating the phone operating system.
And so instead of using Android today, you would be using Windows Mobile," Gates said in an interview at The New York Times DealBook Conference.
So it's a winner-takes-all game, that's for sure, but now nobody here has even heard of Windows Mobile.".
But, in hindsight, Gates now sees a silver lining to Microsoft's antitrust troubles and the fate of Windows Mobile.
The CEO role would go to Steve Ballmer, who inherited Gates' Windows Mobile and Windows XP tablets. »