Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by bandushrew 3619 days ago
That is a point that most people overlook.

Ballmer was right. He underestimated the amount of money they would make, and also underestimated the size of the various markets, and ALSO got it wrong about who would be the "other" OS but......his core point was correct.
1 comments
parasubvert 3619 days ago
His core point was not correct. iOS has about 39% of smartphone share in the U.S., 27% in China, and 19% in Europe. Those are not insignificant.
link
uola 3619 days ago
They were both right at the time. It wasn't until a few years later that the iPhone was actually competitive. It was really Android (and apps) that changed mobile. None of the companies with great OS teams (Nokia, Blackberry, Palm, Ericsson etc.) could compete with free. All the companies that are successful today are close to the hardware supply chain.
link
tjl 3618 days ago
Android only had that opportunity because Apple changed the basic design of smartphones. Until the iPhone, Android was more like the Blackberry of the time. Of course, it wasn't until a few years later that Android phones were decent as the initial ones had issues.
link