Microsoft is not to launch iPhone rival

Gates says competitor unlikely

9 January 2008 17:56 GMT / By Katie Scott

Bill Gates has told an international newspaper that Microsoft is not to launch a product that competes directly with Apple's iPhone.

Gates said in an interview with Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung: "No, we won't do that. In the so-called smart phone business we will concentrate solely on software with our Windows Mobile program".

"We have partnerships with a lot of device manufacturers from Samsung to Motorola and this variety brings us significantly more than if we would make our own mobile phone", he added.