Feature

Gates not Scared of Google

Following last week's speculation that Google would soon be launching itself headlong into the mobile industry, Bill Gates has rejected Google as a serious competitor.
 
The world famous internet search engine is reportedly looking to enter the mobile industry with its own software and services, along with continued rumours about launching their very own handset.

Bill gates, Microsoft chairman, said he wasn't worried about his 10% market share for mobile phone software, and doesn't see Google becoming a successful competitor.

"How many products, of all the Google products that have been introduced, how many of them are profit-making products?" he asked.

"They've introduced about 30 different products; they have one profit-making product. So, you're now making a prediction without ever seeing the software that they're going to have the world's best phone and it's going to be free?"

He went on: "The phone is becoming way more software intensive. And to be able to say that there's some challenge for us in the phone market when its becoming software intensive, I don't see that."

Gates, however, seems to be missing the point. A lot of it's products aren't profit making products because they're being offered for free. Innovative services such as GoogleEarth  have had millions of dollars invested, yet Google hasn't looked to reclaim a penny.

It would seem the Microsoft chairman also forgets that the one profitable product is Google Adsense which has steamrolled the competition including Microsoft's adCenter service.

Could Bill's bravado be down to the fact that he's stepping down next year?