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Windows Phone and iOS accelerated growth over Android in US

Kantar have released the latest of their mobile surveys on smartphone growth. Windows Phone and iOS growth accelerates while the venerable Android holds its course at 51.7% of the market. Windows Phone remains the highlight of the report with good growth and critical acceptance from consumers.

Through the 3 month period ending April 2013, Android now owns more than half (51.7%) of the smartphone sales market,. iOS remains in second place with 41.4% of smartphone sales, while Windows’ smartphone sales share remains at 5.6% - compared to last month - but has grown over the last year by 1.8% points. Positive movement can also be seen across carriers, too, particularly by leader Verizon with 36.3% of smartphones sold (1.8% points increase) and Sprint Nextel with 13.1% of smartphones sold (1.4% points increase). AT&T, in second place, remains stable at 26.3%, while T-Mobile declines to 11.3%.

From this report it is clear that Windows Phone, while still low in percentage points continues on with good momentum. Of particular interest is what they have to say about Microsoft’s mobile operating system.

Windows Phone has begun to capture consumers from across the competitor set. Of those who purchased a Windows Phone device in the last year, 42% came from a feature phone device, 25% from another Windows device and 23% from Android. While iOS is similarly effective at capturing Android users and their own users, only 31% came from a feature phone device, showcasing Windows Phone’s strength in attracting feature phone users.”

Microsoft was always going after the first time smartphone buyer market and particularly those who were coming from feature phones. This looks to be paying off where they see good gains but it’s also clear Windows Phone is finally attracting those who have previously been on Android. 

With numbers of Windows Phones still relatively small it’s clear Microsoft and Nokia have much more to do. Blackberry, whilst not doing so well still have the potential to disrupt the modest gains Microsoft has built in the smartphone space. Quite how Windows Phone will ever climb the mountain of acceptance and start hitting double digits remains unclear; what with Nokia pushing down handsets prices and a focus on bringing top tier apps to the platform, many think this will accelerate adoption further.

Apple and Android still continue to dominate sales, but we could finally be seeing a ground swell of adoption for a third mobile OS.

Source | Kantar

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