It is well known that Android and iOS are the two dominant platforms in the mobile industry and currently account for 93% of sales in the United States and 83% in Europe, but according to recent studies the Windows Phone platform is already showing a positive uptrend. It is by no means close to catching up with the two giants but is definitely closing in on Research in Motion (RIM) to take the third spot. According to the report from Kantar World Panel, low priced devices running WP such as the Nokia Lumia 610 have boosted sales in critical markets such as France and Italy and if things continue this way, WP will definitely take the third spot.
The smartphone market continues to increase in size with each day, with iOS and Android ahead of the rest in the big five markets of Germany, Great Britain, France, Italy and Spain. Their share is 83% in these markets and is much higher at 93% in the United States. Meanwhile, Microsoft has been expending great effort in pushing Windows Phone, but it has had little success with the previous version i.e. Windows Phone 7, while the new version, WP8, looks like it can be a game changer. According to the report, Windows Phone 8 is gaining momentum with the newly announced devices from Nokia, HTC and Samsung and will easily take the third spot from RIM.
In the third quarter of 2012, the Windows Phone claimed a 5% share of the smartphone industry in the big five markets, while a year ago it was only 3.8%. On the other hand, RIM had a share of 12% in the previous year but fell to 6.4% this year. In the US, Windows Phone has already surpassed RIM with a market share of 2.7% compared to the former’s 1.7%. The key to the success of the Windows Phone platform is going to be the partnerships with various hardware manufacturers and so far, Nokia and Microsoft seem to be doing a good job.
At the top, the Android platform saw a 20% jump to 69% this year while the iOS dropped 4.3% of its market share. In the US, Android phones account for 60% of sales with iOS devices amounting to 34%. However, Android’s share fell by 3.3% over the previous year while iOS jumped 9% in the same period.
October 6, 2012 at 4:17 pm
Where do you get your numbers from? Stating illusionary numbers do not change the facts!
October 6, 2012 at 7:45 pm
Don’t under estimate the demand from the enterprise community. It won’t be too long before businesses start upgrading to windows8 and then everyone wants to have it to use word,excel,powerpoint,visio,outlook,etc. Windows phone 8 will naturally become the winner in the mobile os market share. Save this comment and check back in 2 years how iOS and android will hopelessly lose to Microsoft.
Trust me, there are open source platforms such as Linux, but still windows runs on 9 out of 10 PCs in the world. They must be doing something right.