Gates Doubles Down On Ballmer's Mobile Strategy Earlier this year, Gates surprised analysts when he publicly stated that Microsoft's mobile strategy was "clearly a mistake." Many observers believed we would soon witness a rapid turnaround in the company's mobile strategy - including the Surface and Windows Phone. 

No such luck. Today's Bill Gates is completely on-message with Steve Ballmer:

Windows 8 is revolutionary in that it takes the benefits of the tablet and the benefits of the PC (so) if you have Surface and Surface Pro you've got that portability of the tablet but the richness in terms of the keyboard and Microsoft Office of the PC.

Gates is looking in the rear view mirror. While the global Windows user base of 1.25 billion is indeed massive, the PC market is no longer growing. Apple's iOS - iPhone and iPad - are poised to surpass Windows. And Apple's iOS is going to be only the second most popular personal computing platform - after Android.

It is amazing how quickly the world shifted in the direction of iOS and Android. Amazing.