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WinPho 7 yet to achieve two per cent share in any country

by Tim Green
Wednesday, January 25th 2012 at 12:54PM

WinPho 7 yet to achieve two per cent share in any country

Tough old slog ahead for the OS despite Nokia support.

New stats from market watch Kantar Worldpanel ComTech suggest that the Microsoft OS is still struggling for mindshare among the world's smartphone consumers.

Nowhere does it have more than two per cent, and the Nokia Lumia 800 finished quarter four just outside of the top ten smartphones sold in the UK.

Elsewhere the data says Android retained the global smartphone crown, but that Apple is now growing at a faster rate

In the latest 12 weeks of sales, Android had the biggest share in most countries and even went past 60 per cent in Germany.

Apple did best in the US, where its share was at 44.9 per cent while Android took 44.8 per cent. iPhone 4S also helped Apple increase its share of the British smartphone market from 22 per cent a year ago to 34 per cent.

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RIM had mixed fortunes, slipping in many mature markets but enjoying big gains in regions like Mexico. It was also the brand of choice in the smartphone gifting market, with 57 per cent of BlackBerrys purchased as gifts in quarter four.

Kantar's Dominic Sunnebo believes emerging markets are the ones to watch. He said: “Brazil and Mexico have a combined population of over 300 million, meaning that the mobile opportunity is huge.

By staking an early claim on the smartphone market in these countries, Android is laying important groundwork for future sales from the increasingly affluent middle classes. Over the next few years, Asian manufacturers such as Huawei and ZTE are likely to focus smartphone sales on these regions. Their ability to offer prices under $100 will be crucial to their success.”