The story of Windows Phone market share within itself is now a familiar one, with budget phones abounding. Last month we saw a rapid entry of the new Microsoft Lumia 535 to many markets, including India. AdDuplex (AdDuplex.com) has now released its numbers for February, 2015, and they mainly reflect this trend.
No surprises here as the biggest gains were seen by the Lumia 530, Lumia 630/635 and the Microsoft branded Lumia 535. However, some new unannounced Lumias were also spotted, giving us a peek at next week's MWC event.
Low-end dominates globally
Worldwide, the Lumia 530 and Lumia 630/635 series now accounts for nearly 20% of the Windows Phone ecosystem. This number is up from 16.8% just last month, and it continues to demonstrate the success of Microsoft's entry-level Windows Phone strategy.
Interestingly, the Lumia 535 now appears on the charts nabbing 3.1% of the global Windows Phone market. The 5-inch budget phone seems to be hitting all the right notes with customers, mostly due to its generous display, dual 5 MP front and rear cameras and 1 GB of RAM.
Lumia 535 gaining on Lumia 520 in India
Last month, the Lumia 535 rocketed to 9.1% of the Indian Windows Phone market. This month that growth continues pushing the device to 15%, nearing closer to the Lumia 520's massive 25% share of the Lumia market.
Nokia name does not matter?
Perhaps the most interesting takeaway that has gone unmentioned is the Nokia name change. Having acquired the Nokia mobile handset division, the Lumia 535 represents the first Microsoft-branded Lumia Windows Phone.
Many people were under the impression that phasing out the Nokia name from the Lumia line would be dire, due to brand loyalty. The contention was that new Lumia phones would not sell as well with the lack of Nokia branding, especially in emerging markets like India where the Nokia name carries more weight than in the US.
This concern over naming now seems to be nonsense, as the Lumia 535 is clearly doing very well in most markets where it has been introduced.
Although the Nokia brand is dead for smartphones, the Lumia spirit clearly lives on with Microsoft. So far, the market has not negatively reflected upon this change.
Windows 10 preview gets 0.2%
Although the Windows 10 Preview for phones is relatively new, having only been released this month to a subset of Lumia Windows Phones, it has already picked up 0.2% of the share.
This number is an almost negligible. However, it does seem to demonstrate a strong interest in Microsoft's upcoming operating system. Considering how early of a build it is, it will be fascinating to see how that number changes in the coming months.
Meanwhile, Windows Phone 8.1 heads to 68% of the Windows Phone OS market, gaining another 5% over last month.
New devices?
Finally, AdDuplex highlights numerous unannounced phones appearing in their database. These findings include:
- Microsoft/Nokia RM1062 through1067 – 720x1280 5.7-inch display, including a version for AT&T
- Microsoft RM1072 through1077 – 720x1280 5-inch display
There are also reports of a phone with a 480x800 4-inch display, but details are scarce.
Next week, Microsoft is expected to announce two phones at Mobile World Congress, neither of which are flagship or high-end phones. Indeed, Microsoft looks to be continuing to push in the emerging and budget phone arena, a space where they are demonstrably having much success.
The Lumia 640 and Lumia 1330 have been device names batted around, and it will be curious to see how those rumors align with what is revealed next week.
The Lumia 1330 is thought to be a replacement for the aging Lumia 1320 a budget phablet phone announced in late 2013. It is believed to sport a 5.7-inch 720p display, 1.2 GHz Snapdragon 400 processor, 14 MP PureView rear camera, 5 MP front-facing camera, and 32 GB of internal storage. The screen size number at least matches RM106x noted above, suggesting such a phone exists.
The RM107x, however, could be the Lumia 640, a phone recently discovered in Brazil. Due to the 640's number designation landing on the '0' and not a '1' or '2', we believe this phone is meant for worldwide markets and not just Brazil (although the DTV option is a local addition).
Assuming the two models match, the Lumia 640 could bring 1GB of RAM, a 5-inch 720P display, and a front-facing camera, addressing many of the Lumia 63x's shortcomings.
Windows Central will be covering Mobile World Congress live next week, so stay tuned to see how all of this shakes out.
Source: AdDuplex
