Not many saw it coming but Windows Phone has been in the news lately for all the good reasons. The mobile platform continues to show a strong growth pattern, particularly in the United Kingdom.
Latest numbers from Kantar WorldPanel confirm that Microsoft’s mobile market share has flourished, and continues to do so in Europe and other markets. Back home, however, it still seems to be lagging behind — US numbers are still unimpressive.
Expectedly, iOS and Android still command absolute dominance in the UK market with Apple enjoying 30.6 percent of smartphone sales, and Android (spearheaded by Samsung) settled with 56.2 percent.
Windows Phone meanwhile has become the obvious third option in the mobile game. As Dominic Sunnebo, the global consumer insight director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech detailed:
“Nokia is spearheading this growth, with the Lumia 800 the leader among the Windows handsets. However, it is not the only manufacturer benefiting from the increasing popularity of Windows. HTC’s 8X is now the third bestselling Windows device in Great Britain, demonstrating the clear cross-manufacturer opportunity of the platform.”
But impressively, 1 in 5 new Windows Phone customers made the switch from Android. This new data shows an encouraging outlook for Microsoft’s mobile ambitions.
“Understanding the source of growth for the Windows platform is crucial to devise and implement the right marketing and sales strategy. The fact that nearly one in five new customers switched from an Android device should give Microsoft, and its partners, confidence that its OS has what it takes to bring the fight to more established platforms.
As almost 30% of its customers switch from rival OS’s, the worry that Microsoft will have to rely on attracting the dwindling pool of first time smartphone buyers to drive future growth is reduced. ”
Essentially, 30 percent of Redmond’s new mobile customers are actually swooshed over from other mobile operating systems — 17 percent in the case of Android and 6 percent from BlackBerry.
Meaning, more and more people seem to deem Windows Phone worthy of a transition. And that can only be a good sign.
