Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella admitted the company made mistakes in its efforts to develop mobile phones as he believed there were many ways for Windows Phone to succeed.
According to Android Authority, in an interview, Mr. Satya Nadella discussed many different topics related to life, Microsoft, AI (artificial intelligence), and his business dealings over the years. One of the issues he answered in the interview related to the question “Was there any real strategic mistake or just a wrong decision that you regret when looking back?”
Mr. Nadella gave an answer regarding his company’s withdrawal from the mobile phone market. The head of Microsoft believed that Windows Phone could have a chance to succeed but he ended up making a wrong decision.
“The decision that I think a lot of people talked about and was one of the hardest decisions I made when I became CEO was that we abandoned what I would call the planned mobile phone. Meaning then. Looking back, I think there could have been ways for us to make it successful by reinventing the computing category between PC, tablet, and phone,” Mr. Nadella shared.
When Mr. Nadella took over Microsoft from Steve Ballmer, one of his first moves was to buy Nokia’s phone business for $7.6 billion. The company then went on to create Windows Phone, but just a few years after the purchase, the company admitted Windows Phone had failed.
Since then, the corporation has launched Surface Duo and Surface Duo 2 – products with folding screens using the Android platform. There were rumors earlier this year that Microsoft had actually perfected the design for the third version of the Surface Duo, but the company was later said to have scrapped this design in favor of a screen.