Android has become the leading mobile OS in the world but things could have been different if Microsoft had found the right strategy to attack this segment before Apple took charge. Microsoft had famously decided against going for Android on its phones, instead working on the Windows Phone platform.

But new details from the co-founder of Android suggests he never wanted Microsoft to control the mobile segment as it had done with the PC industry for decades.

The Billion Dollar Regret

Microsoft’s Bill Gates often mentions that not getting the company on the mobile bandwagon was one of his biggest regrets. Gates feels that losing out the mobile race has cost Microsoft over $400 billion in market value over the years, something he keeps mentioning in interviews frequently.

But his views have been contradicted recently by none other than Android co-founder, Rich Miner who says, in a post of X, created the platform (Android) so that companies like Microsoft don’t stifle innovation.

“I literally helped created Android to prevent Microsoft from controlling the phone the way they did the PC, stifling innovation. So it is always funny for me to hear Gates whine about losing mobile to Android."

Miner also says that he wanted to keep the mobile ecosystem open, after helping Orange (along with HTC) build the first Windows-powered device called the Orange SPV back in 2002.

Microsoft eventually decided to work on its own mobile platform which they felt was going to be the challenger to Apple’s iPhone ecosystem but Google and Miner had other ideas, and fast-forward to 2025, you have Android as the biggest beneficiary of the mobile market boom since 2010, followed by iOS which is fully controlled by Apple.

If Microsoft had bought Android or partnered with Miner and Co., we might be looking at a very different future for the smartphone industry.

Windows Phone had a lot of potential which was utilised for the Nokia Lumia series, another company that failed to bank on the promise of the market. Microsoft had to eventually sell its stake in Nokia to a consortium called HMD Global from Finland, who then got the brand license to sell Nokia Android phones in many countries, including India.

Now, HMD is focused on selling smartphones with its own brand name, while continuing to have Nokia for the feature phone segment.