Microsoft’s Windows Phone Grabbed Third Place in Global Smart Phone

Microsoft’s Windows Phone grabbed third place from BlackBerry in global smart phone shipments in the first quarter, market researcher IDC said Thursday.

Windows Phone accounted for shipments of 7 million smart phones, earning itself a market share of 3.2 percent last quarter. That was a gain from the first quarter of 2012, which saw shipments of 3 million and a market share of 2 percent.

Over the same period, BlackBerry saw its fortunes fall. Last quarter, shipments fell to 6.3 million from 9.7 million in the year-ago quarter, while BlackBerry’s market share dropped to 2.9 percent from 6.4 percent.

Windows Phone posted the largest gain among all operating systems, a feat largely due to Nokia, IDC said in its report. The Finnish phone maker was responsible for 70 percent of all Windows Phone shipments last quarter. Since partnering with Microsoft, Nokia has shipped a total of 20.3 million Windows Phone handsets. Other vendors also offer Windows Phone devices but mostly as an alternative to their mainstay Android phones.

“Windows Phone claiming the third spot is a first and helps validate the direction taken by Microsoft and key partner Nokia,” IDC analyst Kevin Restivo said in a statement. “Given the relatively low volume generated, the Windows Phone camp will need to show further gains to solidify its status as an alternative to Android or iOS.”

Despite the boost for Windows Phone, Google’s Android and Apple iOS operating systems still completely dominate the smart phone landscape.

Android phones saw shipments of 162.1 million last quarter, up from 90.3 million for the prior year’s quarter. Market share climbed to 75 percent from 59.1 percent.

Apple shipped 37.4 million iPhones in the first quarter, up from 35.1 million, though its slice of the market dropped to 17.3 percent from 23 percent.

Source: CNET