Bill Gates doesn"t think his company has been slow to crack the cell phone market. He just thinks the little devices have yet to catch up to the power of his company"s software.
Still, with cell phones quickly gaining the power PCs had not that long ago, Gates sees a bright future in which the company can quickly gain share from rivals such as Nokia. Gates spoke to CNET News.com on the eve of a speech announcing Windows Mobile 5.0, the next version of Microsoft"s operating system for handhelds and cell phones. In the chat, Gates outlined the company"s mobile strategy, explained why Microsoft is steering clear of the portable-game market (for now) and described why he"s happy that Microsoft is an underdog, for a change.
Q: Microsoft has been trying to crack the mobile-device market for some time. What makes this market so important?
Gates: Essentially, you find us in every device where software makes a big difference; Microsoft comes in and sees how we can make a contribution. The mobile space, there are so many neat things that can go on if, for example, you use Outlook and our phone, if you use Office and a phone, if you use our mobile format and a phone. The richness of software on mobile devices is just at the beginning. We see certainly a decade"s worth of work where mobile devices can get richer and richer.