Bill Gates: Windows Phone strategy was 'a mistake' • The Register

An unusual acknowledgement

"In an interview with CBS This Morning's Charlie Rose on Monday, Gates admitted he wasn't pleased with Microsoft's performance in the mobile market, going as far as to characterize the company's smartphone strategy as "a mistake."
"We didn't miss cell phones," Gates said. "But the way that we went about it didn't allow us to get the leadership, so it's clearly a mistake."
Mind you, to say that Microsoft isn't leading with Windows Phone is a bit of an understatement. According to recent research from comScore, Microsoft's share of the smartphone market actually shrunk during the three months ending December 2012, leaving it with a paltry 2.9 per cent."

Bill Gates: Windows Phone strategy was 'a mistake' • The Register