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Windows Phone may not be challenging the likes of Android or iOS in most places, but devices running Microsoft’s mobile OS are actually outselling the iPhone in some countries.
That’s according to IDC, a market research company. Frank Shaw, corporate vice president of corporate communications at Microsoft, quoted the research in a blog post, and now the New York Times has followed it up and found exactly which seven countries they are.
More Windows Phone handsets were shipped than iPhones in Argentina,
India, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Ukraine, and a seventh area that’s
actually a group of smaller countries that the IDC lumps together.
The numbers count handset shipments in the last quarter of 2012.
But that’s not to say Windows Phone is racking up huge sales. Three of the countries where it’s outshining Apple are so small that fewer than 100,000 Windows Phone handsets sold in the quarter. Not that the numbers reflect sales — they only show how many smart phones were imported into the countries too. IDC analyst Kevin Restivo notes that some countries have a huge grey market for smart phones, due to high government taxes, so it’s tricky to pin down exact sales figures.
Windows Phone 8 is on the rise on these shores as well. According to analytics firm Kantar, WP8 grew from 6.2 per cent to 6.7 per cent market share in the UK in a month, eating into BlackBerry and Symbian.
The countries where WP8 does best tend to be strongholds for Nokia, due to the iPhone being too expensive, and the networks not offering much in the way of deals. The Lumia 620 is one of the best budget smart phones we’ve ever had our hands on, so it deserves to be a success. It’s just a shame Windows Phone 8 is struggling against the might of Android and iOS in bigger markets.
Does Windows Phone 8 deserve to be bigger than it is? How can Nokia and Microsoft tackle Apple and Android? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below, or on our Facebook page.
