Bill Gates Confirms That He Is Still On Team Android, Not iPhone

During his eleventh 'Ask Me Anything' on Reddit, Bill Gates reaffirmed that he is still with team Android and not iPhone.

Asking about the Microsoft cofounder's "daily driver smartphone" Reddit user 1oarecare pointed out that during his previous AMA, Gates had mentioned using a Galaxy Fold.

Gates replied, "I have a Samsung Fold 4 which JY Lee the Chairman of Samsung gave me when I saw him in South Korea to update my Fold 3," 

Gates stated that due to the size of his phone's screen, he only uses it in conjunction with his portable Windows computer and  "Outlook and a lot of Microsoft software"  He does not use a tablet.

According to to StatCounter, Android accounts for over 72% of the global market share for mobile operating systems. Apple comes in second with a market share of over 27%.

In a 2021 Clubhouse interview, Gates stated that he uses an Android because he wants "to keep track of everything."

He said that he frequently experiments with iPhones but relies on his Android due to his familiarity with it.

In a way that makes it simple for me, certain Android makers pre-install Microsoft applications, he said.

Gates was questioned if he receives information about future launches of Microsoft products in the same Reddit inquiry concerning his phone.

Gates noted that while he enjoys working with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, the company's hardware strategy is not something he is familiar with."Microsoft involves me in some of the research and product plans," he added.

Gates, who left his position as CEO of Microsoft in 2000, has acknowledged that allowing Google to create Android was his "biggest mistake ever."

At a 2019 event sponsored by venture capital firm Village Global, Gates proclaimed, "The greatest mistake ever is the whatever mismanagement I engaged in that caused Microsoft not to be what Android is, [meaning] Android is the standard non-Apple phone form platform,"  "That was a natural thing for Microsoft to win."

Microsoft released its own Windows-powered smartphones but stopped selling them in 2017 after realising they couldn't compete with Android and iPhones in the smartphone market.