Microsoft might have earlier struggled to keep pace with other handheld device operating systems in the market such as the Android and iPhone, but in recent times the Windows Phone operating system has surprisingly gained popularity. As a result of this, its sales have climbed dramatically in the third quarter.
The phone makers sold about 4.06 million Microsoft based devices worldwide in the third quarter, mostly running Windows Phone, against 1.7 million in the same period a year ago. This has marked a jump of 139% and pushed the company’s share of the world mobile OS market to 2.4% – up from 1.5 % a year ago.
Google’s Android jumped from a 52.5% share to a commanding 72.4%. However, Microsoft’s sales are enough to show that the company is ready to give some competition to the established players in the phone segment. Apple’s iOS fell from 15% in the third quarter of 2011 to 13.9% in the third quarter of 2012.
RIM’s share also declined significantly from 11% to 5.3%. The company has hopes that the release of BlackBerry 10, slated for January, 2013, will help revive the company from loses. Symbian from Nokia noticed a dramatic fall in its shares from 16.9% to 2.6% between 2011 and 2012, which did not come as a surprise. Nokia is reportedly now trying to phase out Symbian.
