14 DAY TRIAL // Windows Phone adoption is on the rise, and new figures provided by Kantar confirm that Microsoft's mobile platform is becoming a stronger alternative to iOS and Android in several countries.
Market share figures for the first quarter of 2015 indicate that Windows Phone had good performance in Europe during this timeframe, scoring increases in almost every single country.
For example, Windows Phone increased its share in Germany with 2.1 points, reaching 8.7 percent, with 5.8 points in France to 14.1 percent, and with 0.5 points in Italy to achieve a personal best of 14.4 percent.
In the United Kingdom and Spain, Windows Phone lost 1.2 and 0.3 percent, respectively, dropping to 8 percent and 2.8 percent.
Overall, in Europe, Windows Phone managed to grow up to 9.9 percent, posting the exact same increase as iOS: 1.8 percentage points. Windows Phone is now at 9.9 percent on the Old Continent, whereas iOS has 20.3 percent of the market.
But what's more encouraging is that Windows Phone got very close to iOS in some European markets, such as France and Italy. In France, Windows Phone has 14.1 percent vs. 19.4 percent for iOS, whereas in Italy, Windows Phone reached 14.4 percent vs. 17.5 percent for iOS.
Non-European markets
As far as the United States is concerned, Windows Phone lost some users, but so did iOS, so Microsoft's operating system now stays at 4.3 percent. Android leads the field in Microsoft's home market with 58.1 percent, followed by iOS with 36.5 percent.
China, another big market ruled by Android, didn't bring any drop or increase for Windows Phone, so the same 1.2 market share is maintained. Android, however, lost 8 percent in China to drop to 72 percent.
Overall, Windows Phone is growing and this is quite a good thing for Microsoft and its users, especially because Windows 10 is almost here and is very likely to continue this ascending trend. Windows 10 for phones is projected to debut in October.