Microsoft Mobile Marketshare Declines After WP7 Release
Android continues to assimilate mobile OS market share while Windows Phone 7 continues to decline.
Last Thursday comScore released data showing key trends in the U.S. mobile phone sector during the three month average period ending June 2011. According to the numbers, there's good reason why Microsoft and Apple may be secretly campaigning against Google on the mobile OS front: Android numbers are growing while iOS remains somewhat level and Windows Phone 7 continues to plummet.
During the last three months of 2010, Microsoft introduced Windows Phone 7 to the public and commanded 8-percent of the smartphone OS market. But by the end of March 2011, that number dropped to 7.5-percent. ComScore's report now indicates that Microsoft’s share has fallen yet another 1.7-percent by the last day of June, owning just 5.8-percent of the mobile OS market.
Meanwhile, Google's Android OS jumped from 34.7-percent recorded in March 2011 to 40.1-percent recorded in June 2011, a 5.4-percent increase. Apple saw a 25.5-percent smartphone OS market share in March, and then a 1.1-percent increase of 26.6-percent in June. It's likely Google may always have the larger number simply because the OS is not only free to manufacturers, but installed on more than several hardware sets – iOS will always remain an Apple exclusive and installed on a limited number of devices.
The report also reveals that by the end of June, 25-percent of North America's mobile subscribers owned a Samsung smartphone. LG was in second place with a 21.3-percent share followed by Motorola (14.5-percent), Apple (8.9-percent) and RIM (7.9-percent). Overall smartphone usage has grown since the January-March quarter, with 39.5-percent of the surveyed subscribers downloading apps (up 2.2-percent) and 26.9-percent playing games (up 1.2-percent).
One thing the comScore report didn't point out was that there are currently only eight Windows Phone 7 smartphones on the market. These include the HTC Desire, the HTC Arrive, the Samsung Focus, the LG Quantum, the HTC Surround, the Dell Venue Pro, the HTC HD75 and the HTC Trophy. That said, the declining market share doesn't spell certain doom for Microsoft's mobile efforts: it means that there's a large-but-growing number of Android handsets and the WP7 portfolio may not be growing fast enough.
ComScore gathered its information by surveying more than 30,000 U.S. mobile subscribers. To see the results, head here.
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I'm really hoping WP7 will take off
Maybe they should buy HTC also.
Microsoft have produced such a nice OS. I just hope they can break the stereotypes that they have stuck to them.
Their marketing team needs to change I think...
I know of the HTC 7 Mozart & the Samsung Omnia(I think that's it)
With Nokia bringing WP7 devices, I would think that WP7 will have it's market share increased...
Microsoft have produced such a nice OS. I just hope they can break the stereotypes that they have stuck to them.Their marketing team needs to change I think...
I definitely agree there. I love the WP7 and am learning to develop for it, but I haven't really seen any commercials except for the Australia one that Toms reported. :- /
I live in New Zealand. I haven't seen any commercials either.
This is why Microsoft fail compared to Apple. They can't advertise a good product even if their life depended on it
Still in decline, but the decline is likely slower than it would have been if WP 7 hadn't been released.
I'm hopeful that the introduction of Nokia (a brand with an excellent reputation in Europa, Africa and Asia) handsets will turn things around. Especially if these handsets are more powerful than the okay-but-not-great Qualqomm's they've been using.
Still in decline, but the decline is likely slower than it would have been if WP 7 hadn't been released.I'm hopeful that the introduction of Nokia (a brand with an excellent reputation in Europa, Africa and Asia) handsets will turn things around. Especially if these handsets are more powerful than the okay-but-not-great Qualqomm's they've been using.
Hopefully!
Nokia could produce a phone that would destroy the upcoming iPhone and top Android models. They're more than capable after all..
I am waiting for firewall, AV-suite, hotfix 1-2-3 and service pack 3. Winphone won't ever go anywhere but to the history books. Trash!
I am waiting for firewall, AV-suite, hotfix 1-2-3 and service pack 3. Winphone won't ever go anywhere but to the history books. Trash!
wtf?
I really don't think there is room for the three of them and Microsoft is likely the one to be pushed out. Apple is secure because they have the apple fan-boys and the type that try to show off what they have as if it somehow makes them a better person than others.... basically Apple has douche-bags as consumers and there is a whole lot of douche-bags.
Google's Android is free for to manufacturers as mentioned in the article. This means larger profits and maybe even a small cut in price for the consumer. Android isn't draconian like Apple when it comes to third party apps. This is good for developers, good for the consumer and even good for the manufactures of the phones as it gives more reason to buy one.
This is not something WP7 can easily compete with no matter how good the OS is.
They are charging for the use of the OS to the manufactures. Their market place seems to be a tad more strict than Google's. This currently leaves it less desirable to pretty much everyone. They could attempt to copy Android and make the OS itself free but this is Microsoft we are talking about so that is unlikely.
I was on the developers forums for WP7 when it was beta.
I went on a rant stating Microsoft needed to get their tail into the game because they are loosing market share quickly before they even released.
I also told them to attract the market you need lots of apps, and good ones to boot. To do this you need:
1) A good development kit
2) Lots of good developers
3) Good support for developers
Microsoft is in LAST place by a long shot, and their terms to developers was nothing short of eggresious and expensive. They blew rule #3 out of the water, causing all the developers in rule #2 to look elsewhere.
And as Shadow said above, MS had the nerve to charge for their OS with android is free to hardware vendors.
Case in point: A guy here at work won a WP7 and a data plan to go with it. I asked him how he liked it and he said, "I hate it" and I asked, "Why?" and he said, "No apps"
Arrogance pure and simple out of the bean counters who think they can turn a bigger profit.
If you need to catch up, make it free and easy for everyone. As improvements are made, THEN start charging.
@digitalgriffin, WP7 is very developer friendly and their marketplace is growing faster than Google’s or apple's app stores did. It currently has over 27,000 (a lot for how young it is and just a lot in general) and mango hasn't even hit yet! Besides, the best thing about my HTC HD7 is that WP7 can do things that Android/iOS can't (without third party apps).
WP7 is very good. I just hope it doesn't turn into one of those brilliant things that go unnoticed (It wouldn't be the first time it's happened to Microsoft)
I was on the developers forums for WP7 when it was beta.I went on a rant stating Microsoft needed to get their tail into the game because they are loosing market share quickly before they even released.I also told them to attract the market you need lots of apps, and good ones to boot. To do this you need:1) A good development kit2) Lots of good developers3) Good support for developersMicrosoft is in LAST place by a long shot, and their terms to developers was nothing short of eggresious and expensive. They blew rule #3 out of the water, causing all the developers in rule #2 to look elsewhere. And as Shadow said above, MS had the nerve to charge for their OS with android is free to hardware vendors.Case in point: A guy here at work won a WP7 and a data plan to go with it. I asked him how he liked it and he said, "I hate it" and I asked, "Why?" and he said, "No apps"Arrogance pure and simple out of the bean counters who think they can turn a bigger profit.If you need to catch up, make it free and easy for everyone. As improvements are made, THEN start charging.
windows mobile always had more apps then anyone else. The only problem is the general retard doesnt know how to use a search engine to find them. when i had a windows phone i could get an app for anything i wanted it didnt matter. But the windows phone also did something others dont do vary well.. already had a full suite of software installed on the phone so there was little need for stupid apps.
I'm not a big fan of Microsoft as a company. But yeah, WP7 has an excellent UI and seeing in action is quite nice. It's easily easier to use over iOS Phone or Android.
I have a WP7 Launcher installed on my Android - so my phone looks like WP7 with the custom titles... I like how it shows me how many messages or calls are needed to look at on the tiles, and the titles are large and easier to press than the tiny dinky Android / iOS buttons.
I'd like to the WP7 market grow, but I don't want to see MS / Apple destroy Android over BS legal fighting.
ah... the spam has arrived
dont worry MS my upgrade comes in september!, add me to the list of market share now!
I really like some of their phones and especially the OS, it's very slick. Too bad I'm stuck with a 2 year contract so I can't switch (I tried). My neighbor recently got a WP7 and I was pretty jealous, it looks very very nice
To put things in perspective, Samsung sells more Bada phones than they do WP7. Depending on sales of the other manufactures, that could make WP7 the 5th OS; behind Android, iOS, Blackberry and Bada.
http://www.tomsguide.com/us/WP7-wi [...] 12104.html
According to Market Research company Kantar World Panel windows phone 7 has grown from 1% of the US marketshare to 2.1% in the last 12 weeks ending 10th July. For those who thinks WP7 is going south no its a great OS its gonna keep rising as predicted by the IDC.
Apple stole from both Android and Windows phone 7 for Iphone 5 but when all is said and done wp7 will be a God awesome OS when mango drops. Even the the tech bloggers who have Iphone5 beta is saying they are finding it hard to go back to Iphone wp7 has surpassed both in beauty and functionality with Mango cause everything is integrated into the phone. wp7 Mango is super awesome.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DP9 [...] ure=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmB [...] re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMd [...] ure=relmfu
Typical of Toms Hardware to compare oranges and bananas!
First the OS share clearly includes everything from Phones to Pads (look at Apple "OS share" at 26.6-percent but they "only" have 8.9-percent of the phones and since they are the only producer of their phones it proves the os part is from all kind of devices). MS produces only a phoone os today so does their market share really decreases in that sector or is it gaining momentum? Its like saying Brand A single product lost market share of their product but only when we combine Brand B's several products. Its clear the "journalist" dont like brand A.
Toms Hardware seem to be on a steady decline, hardware reviews are great but the news section leaves more to be desired for each day that passes!
They need to "give away" the dev kit, at least in the early market penetration stages.
Purely for the sake of competition, I hope that WP7 starts doing better. I've read some people here have had good experiences with it, but I don't know a single person that owns one. People that I know are about 50% iOS (mostly older/technically illiterate), 50% Android (younger / computer savvy).
The issue is not whether WP7 is good or not, many great OSes failed to become mainstream, MacOS is a good example, so is Linux BTW. Several hurdles have to be taken, IMHO being late in the game is the hardest one, not only because the app market will remain behind (MS should have remembered just why the PC became popular) but also simply because of branding : Iphone and Android are the clear winners in the mainstream market and they are both excellent, which makes them very hard to beat.
And tablet aren't gonna help : iOS users have by now invested in apps that they use on both their Iphone and Ipads, they won't easily switch, unless the app makers guarantee that apps can be reused.
Rahmifa : AmigaOS was a great OS that failed, mostly from internal business issues within the company (they were morons). That OS from the 80s totally destroyed MacOS and MS-DOS~Win1~3.x (okay, I know... Windows 1~3 are NOT Operating Systems). But the management and marketing from the company was completely unprofessional. It would take MS & Apple about 10~13 years to catchup.
I really like some of their phones and especially the OS, it's very slick. Too bad I'm stuck with a 2 year contract so I can't switch
I don't know what you have.... but *IF* you have an Android phone, go the Market and do a search for "Launcher 7" (theres both free and $2 versions). Download it... customize the tiles.
I've LOVE running Launcher 7 on my Android. First time I've ever actually enjoyed using my Android phone. Never liked the tiny buttons of Android (Which is also very iOS in style) and never quite remembered which screen had which Apps... I made my NORMAL Android home screen as clean as possible of clutter... its nothing compared to WP7 or Launcher 7.
Android needs to divert from iOS style... maybe go to a 3x4 grid with tile like functions... or come up with something even more original.
I think the lack of success up till this point has made sense:
- Less hardware available (there just aren't a lot of state of the art WP7 phones)
- Less apps (the main reason I haven't moved over is I'm waiting for the app support to increase)
- Less marketing (partially because of less devices)
- Inferior platform (let's face it as nice as it was, at release it wasn't as good as the competitors, hopefully with Mango that will change)
Hopefully over the next 12-18 months there will be a substantial shift: there are now a lot more apps and it's growing fast, looks like companies like Nokia will release high end hardware, Mango is now competitive with the other OS. Time will tell, funny for Microsoft to be the underdog with people rooting for them.
Typical of Toms Hardware to compare oranges and bananas!First the OS share clearly includes everything from Phones to Pads (look at Apple "OS share" at 26.6-percent but they "only" have 8.9-percent of the phones and since they are the only producer of their phones it proves the os part is from all kind of devices). MS produces only a phoone os today so does their market share really decreases in that sector or is it gaining momentum? Its like saying Brand A single product lost market share of their product but only when we combine Brand B's several products. Its clear the "journalist" dont like brand A.Toms Hardware seem to be on a steady decline, hardware reviews are great but the news section leaves more to be desired for each day that passes!
You need to read more carefully. It's 26.6% of the smart phone market, but 8.9% of the overall market. If we count all iOS devices there are many, many more because of iPod.