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Steve Ballmer's 5 Biggest Microsoft Blunders

Microsoft has seen Apple and Google pass it during the past decade. What mistakes has led Microsoft to the third place position among global tech giants?

By Eric Bleeker – Aug 24, 2013 at 4:23PM EST

On Friday morning Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) announced that longtime CEO Steve Ballmer would be retiring from the company within the next 12 months. While Bill Gates will always be the company's iconic founder and former CEO, Ballmer has led the company across the past 13 years.

Ballmer's legacy is a mixed-bag. On one hand, profitability sharply increased during his time as CEO, yet the company has also seen its share of blunders across the past decade and is badly trailing both Apple and Google in both tablet and smartphone adoption. 

To see a full run-down of some of Ballmer's biggest blunders, just click on the slideshow below. Also, if you're looking for more information on the battle between Microsoft, Apple, Google, and other major tech giants, we've created a free report called "Who Will Win the War Between the 5 Biggest Tech Stocks?"To grab a copy of this report, simply click here -- it's free!

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About the Author

Eric Bleeker, CFA joined The Motley Fool at the height of the financial crisis in 2008. For the next four years he led the Fool's Tech & Telecom sector, both writing articles and providing feedback and ideas to writers. Today, Eric is the General Manager of Fool.com, but still enjoys writing a tech article or two from time to time. Follow @bleekertech

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Stocks Mentioned

Microsoft

NASDAQ: MSFT

$409.67

(+0.17%)+$0.71

Apple

NASDAQ: AAPL

$260.17

(+1.05%)+$2.71

Alphabet

NASDAQ: GOOGL

$306.68

(+2.81%)+$8.37

*Average returns of all recommendations since inception. Cost basis and return based on previous market day close.