All this talk about Windows Phone being dead in the water, when compared to Android and iOS is starting to get a bit much. If you read every news story on the internet about Windows Phone market share, everyone has a comment about how Windows Phone will never catch up to the competition.
Did you know that in the past year, Windows Phone has actually gained more market share than Android or iOS? Yup. Lets explore this a little.
According to data from Kantar WorldPanel, Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform actually saw an increase in market share in the United States by 1.9% in the past year. Apple, the company leading in mobile operating system market share, saw an increase of 0.9%. Android, who holds the second place spot, actually dropped in market share by 1.4%.
“As iOS and Android continue to battle it out for top selling smartphone OS, we have seen Windows steadily grow over the past year and is now at its highest sales share figure so far,” Kantar Worldpanel ComTech analyst Mary-Ann Parlato stated.
Nokia, which has been instrumental in the growth of Windows Phone, has also seen the greatest benefit as a result. Nokia’s share has went up by 1% compared to the same period from one year ago.
Interestingly enough, it appears that Windows Phone is doing well in terms of attracting first time smartphone users, who previously had a featurephone. “Windows strength appears to be the ability to attract first time smartphone buyers, upgrading from a featurephone. Of those who changed their phone over the last year to a Windows smartphone, 52% had previously owned a featurephone,” Parlato added.
Parlato added that over 50% of the US market still owns a featurephone and will most likely upgrade to a smartphone this year. This will ultimately benefit Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform as a result.
Thanks for the tip, Jason!
