Microsoft should have embraced Android when it was clear that was winning out on the mobile front and shipped its own version of the OS.

Microsoft could have courted OEMs to use their flavour of Android instead by giving them a cut of appstore revenue and enticing developers over by offering sweeter revenue share deals as well. It's all Android, a few shims for Google services and it'd be almost no effort for a developer to put their app on both storefronts and get more revenue as a result.

OEM's don't make money from the play store, only Google does. But no OEM has the clout and ability to draw developers over to run their own store - many have tried and they're a barren wasteland of malware and out of date crapware. You can't ship a device without an AppStore so Google wins and Phones get more expensive as a result.

In a world where the Play store has genuine competition and consumers can move from one device to another with the knowledge that all their favourite apps will still be available, we could have had a much better ecosystem.

It's not too late, either, all Microsoft has to do is step up.