New data from research firm IDC has revealed that Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform has posted its largest share increase during the fourth quarter of 2013. On top of that, Nokia dominates the Windows Phone market with a 89.3% market share.
“Windows Phone posted the largest increase for both the quarter (46.7%) and the year (90.9%), with each nearly doubling the growth of the overall market. Nokia easily led all vendors with 89.3% market share, a testament to its expanding portfolio that addressed entry-level all the way up to large-screen smartphones. What remains to be seen in 2014 is how Microsoft’s acquisition of Nokia’s smart devices will propel volumes higher,” IDC reported.
According to IDC estimates, 8.8 million Windows Phone smartphones were shipped worldwide during the fourth quarter of 2013. Nokia obviously had a big hand in making this possible. Compared to the same quarter a year prior, Windows Phone saw 6 million smartphones shipped. An obvious increase, but it still needs work.
BlackBerry, on the other hand, was the only mobile operating system to continue its downward spiral into nothingness with a negative year-over-year change for both the quarter (down 77.0%) and for the year (down 40.9%).
Windows Phone, albeit in third place, still has a ways to go in order to catch up to Android and iOS. Google’s mobile operating system saw 226.1 million smartphones shipped during the fourth quarter of 2013. Apple’s iOS saw 51 million smartphones shipped.
“Clearly, there was strong end-user demand for both Android and iOS products during the quarter and the year,” IDC explains. “What stands out are the different routes Android and Apple took to meet this demand. Android relied on its long list of OEM partners, a broad and deep collection of devices, and price points that appealed to nearly every market segment. Apple’s iOS, on the other hand, relied on nearly the opposite approach: a limited selection of Apple-only devices, whose prices trended higher than most. Despite these differences, both platforms found a warm reception to their respective user experiences and selection of mobile applications.”