It’s been quite some time since Microsoft famously announced an alternative to Android and iOS back in February 2010. Since then we have had the first commercial release of Windows Phone which happened in October 2010 followed by a multitude of updates. While the platform, right from the outset was generously praised for its UI and overall ease of use, for some reason, it didn’t really take off. A good two years after the arrival of the platfrom, it still doesn’t figure anywhere in the list of the most used smarphone OS platfroms. That however might be changing rapidly if we are to believe recent reports.
According to fresh market data, Microsoft and its Windows Phone platforms seem to be gaining some serious traction. In the third quarter of 2012, Microsoft’s hardware partners were able to sell 4.06 million Windows Phone based devices. While this is paltry compared to what Samsung and Apple manages to do with just one single phone models, the increase in sales is quite impressive. During the same period a year ago, all of the Windows Phone vendors collectively managed to sell only 1.7 million handsets. This is a growth of 139 percent year on year. This has also helped Windows Phone raise its marketshare from a negligible 1.5% to a still not-so-great 2.4%.
During the same period however the Android juggernaut continues to roll and the platform now holds 72.4% of the smartphones market – compared to just 52.5% a year ago. Apple’s iOS lost market share and fell from the 15% market share it had in Q3, 2011 to just 13.9 % in Q3, 2012. RIM and Symbian were the biggest losers with both of them now 5.3% and 2.6% of the smartphones market respectively.
The fall of Symbian however should not come as a surprise. The once dominant smartphone platfrom was virtually abandoned by Nokia in favor of Windows Phone – after its strategic tie up with Microsoft.
One thing to be nted is the fact that this jump in the sales of Windows Phone handsets have come even before the launch of its new Windows Phone 8 based handsets. With Windows 8 based devices from Nokia, HTC and Samsung receiving rave reviews from users and tech geeks alike, it is quite plausible that the Windows Phone platfrom should see significant traction in the months to come.
What do you think?