The current status of Windows Phone’s market share is always interesting. We’ve never really received solid numbers from Microsoft, instead we rely on third-party data from market researchers and analysts. We’ve seen some recent data from comScore, Kantar, and Strategy Analytics. Now we’re getting some new data from IDC. The big takeaway? Windows Phone saw shipments grow 156% year-over-year for the third quarter. Details below.
Windows Phone is currently the world’s fastest growing operating system. The data from IDC suggests that the platform saw an increase in shipments of 156% year-over-year for the third quarter. According to their data, in Q3 2012 Windows Phone moved 3.7 million handsets and just recently moved 9.5 million handsets. That’s a pretty impressive jump, even if it pales to 211.6 million handsets that Android and the 33.8 million that Apple did in the same quarter. But remarkably better when compared to BlackBerry moving only 4.5 million handsets, which is a drop of 41.6% year-over-year for the Canadian phone maker.
They also note that Nokia was responsible for 93.2% of all those 9.3 million Windows Phone handsets. Which is pretty impressive when you remember that Nokia reported selling 8.8 million handsets in the third quarter.
Why are Android and Windows Phone seeing strong growth? Windows Phone is up 156% for the quarter, while Android was up 51.3%. Here’s why according to Ramon Llamos, Research Manager at IDC:
“Android and Windows Phone continued to make significant strides in the third quarter. Despite their differences in market share, they both have one important factor behind their success: price. Both platforms have a selection of devices available at prices low enough to be affordable to the mass market, and it is the mass market that is driving the entire market forward."
There’s no denying that devices like the Lumia 520 have been responsible for the massive growth seen by Windows Phone this part year.
Thoughts on the report from the IDC?
Source: IDC
