The Microsoft co-founder was taking part in a question and answer session with journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin on Clubhouse. Asked which operating system he preferred, Mr Gates replied: “I actually use an Android phone. Because I want to keep track of everything, I’ll often play around with iPhones, but the one I carry around happens to be Android.”
He said that the fact Android used Microsoft software was the decisive factor.
He explained: “Some of the Android manufacturers pre-install Microsoft software in a way that makes it easy for me.
“They’re more flexible about how the software connects up with the operating system.
“So that’s what I ended up getting used to.
“You know, a lot of my friends have iPhone, so there’s no purity.”
The software billionaire has confessed that his “greatest mistake ever” was allowing Apple and Google to own the mobile market.
Microsoft was initially a market leader in in mobile software with its Windows Mobile family of operating systems.
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In an interview hosted by venture firm Village Global, Mr Gates said: “You know, in the software world, in particular for platforms, these are winner-take-all markets.
“So, you know, 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.”
