comScore has released data for the three-month period ending January 2013, showing Windows Phone still battling hard against the popular iPhone in the US. Microsoft has a marathon to endure when it comes to consumers in North America, who are already set on either Android or iOS. Blackberry continued to fall at the end of 2012, but Windows Phone is hanging on (if not growing steadily looking at just how much the platform has dropped).
The above table reveals Windows Phone catching up to BlackBerry, and while Microsoft did lose 0.1 percent, it's not a negative look on how the platform is progressing. We're seeing an increase in smartphone owners, as well as changes with both Apple and Google (check out Android's -1.3 point change). Microsoft and partners are actually doing a relatively good job. There's obviously still room for improvement, however.
The Nokia Lumia 720 and Lumia 520 Windows Phones that were both announced at Mobile World Congress, have yet to launch in the states, which will further boost the platform with more affordable Windows Phone 8 hardware to boot. The Lumia 520 will be the cheapest Windows Phone from Nokia, and we bet it'll be a popular choice among consumers in many markets, including the US.
Should the growth rate of Windows Phone continue to increase at the rate we're witnessing, it'll look to be a strong climb when the platform begins to capture shares of the market in favour of quick bursts with subsequent drops. We're content with what the above chart shows. It could be worse. We could be in BlackBerry's position with a continuous down spiral.
It's worth noting that these numbers are before BlackBerry 10. It'll be interesting to see how the new hardware will help BlackBerry prevent Windows Phone from leapfrogging the tasteful fruit. That said, we're also missing out on a strong 2013 start for Windows Phone, which will also be detailed in the next report.
Source: comScore; thanks, aaa6112, for the tip!
