Microsoft: Windows Phone is in Third Place and We're Proud

From DailyTech: A report from market research firm Interactive Data Corp. (IDC) last month gave some surprising news -- "Windows Phone posted the largest year-over-year gain among the leading operating systems, more than doubling its size from a year ago."

Led by Finnish phonemaker Nokia Oyj. (HEX:NOK1V) -- once the world's largest smartphone maker and currently the company behind roughly four out of every five Windows Phones shipped -- Windows Phone shipped 7.0m units in Q1 2013 for a 3.2 percent market share; slightly ahead of BlackBerry Ltd.'s (TSE:BB) 6.3m units shipped (and 2.9 percent market share). Google Inc.'s (GOOG) Android widened its lead for the quarter, outselling Apple, Inc. (AAPL) more than 4-to-1, with a 79 percent market share.

Microsoft Corp.'s (MSFT) Windows Phone product manager Larry Lieberman gave an interview to The Verge this week cheering the third place "victory". He comments, "We think we're solidly the third ecosystem right now. That's a huge announcement in some respects. [Windows Phone is] growing faster than anyone else right now."

The news must be bitter for BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins who has long stated that his ambition for his firm is to capture third place in the mobile market.

As for the Windows Phone product chief, he's dismissive of BlackBerry, commenting, "I don't think they can bring to the table some of the things we have. The fact like we're delivering across such a different set of price points to such a large audience."

View: Article @ Source Site