There are many statistics that show the failure of the Windows Phone platform and there exist varying opinions as to its future. One of the major gripes of critics has been that Windows Phone still hasn’t been able to overtake Windows Mobile, which has been dead for almost two years now. The former’s market share is 1.7% while the latter’s stands at 4.1%. It has not done well even though it’s been in the market for 18 months and has had 2 updates.
The platform holds the fourth position after Android, which has a 48.5% market share, iOS at 32% and Blackberry at 16% in the 1st quarter of 2012. Microsoft’s share dwindled to 9% in the second quarter of 2011 and has been falling ever since. Data collected by ComScore later showed that its fall in market share stopped at 3.9%, which is an improvement.
Buy the Nokia Lumia 900 Windows Phone starting at $49.
Analyst Mike Feibu believes that Microsoft will gain market share from increasing sales due to Verizon supporting Windows Phone. BetaNews reader Brandon Mills is quite optimistic about Microsoft’s ascension this year. He adds that as RIM’s condition is not looking good, its position will soon be occupied by Microsoft which will establish itself as the third power in the mobile ecosystem.
Commenter Aretzios believes that Microsoft should blame itself for the fall in market share as it moved from Windows Mobile 6.5 to an incompatible system that pushed its users to move to Android. Microsoft had always been known for ensuring backward compatibility, and with Windows Phone 7 the company ditched all its developers for a completely new platform. Backward compatibility used to be a top priority during Gates’ and Ballmer’s period, but was ditched starting with the introduction of Office 2007.
Windows Phone still has its supporters, though. After having used all the other platforms Dan Goldberg, a fan, says that Windows Phone is much better than Android or iOS as it is more stable than rival platforms, has longer battery life, is quite fast and that Facebook and Twitter being integrated with the phone makes posting messages faster. Another fan, Aretzios differs by saying that iPhone and Android are better than Windows Phone because they have just as much and more to offer, including a lot more variety of options for users. He adds there is little hope for the platform and things will get worse once the iPhone 5 is out.
Buy the Nokia Lumia 900 Windows Phone starting at $49.
