New smartphone sales data from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech shows Windows gaining popularity with consumers, growing its user base in the United Kingdom by almost 700,000 in the past year – an increase of 240 per cent, cellular-news reported on Thursday.
In the three months to January 2013 Windows’ share of the smartphone market has grown to over six per cent in Great Britain, up from 2.4 per cent the previous year, and 14.0 per cent in Italy.
Although iOS and Android continue to take the lion’s share of smartphone sales in Great Britain, accounting for 30.6 per cent and 56.2 per cent of purchases in the latest data, Windows phones are now selling in significant quantities.
The Global Consumer Insight Director, Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, Dominic Sunnebo, said, “Nokia is spearheading this growth, with the Lumia 800 the leader among the Windows handsets. However, it is not the only manufacturer benefitting 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.
“With Windows now holding respectable market shares across most major European countries, a key question is who is losing out? In Great Britain, 17 per cent of new Windows customers switched from Android, 26 per cent from Symbian, six per cent from RIM and just two per cent from iOS. 47 per cent first time smartphone buyers.
“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 per cent 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.”
