The company has confirmed its 5.4% market share in the country

Sep 20, 2013 08:42 GMT  ·  By

Microsoft India has just announced that Windows Phone operating system is the second largest smartphone platform in the country. Obviously, Android is the number 1 platform in India and there isn’t anyone that could steal its crown anytime soon.

I believe Google’s mobile platform has more than 90% market share in India, which makes it very hard to dethrone it from the top spot.

According to Microsoft, Windows Phone barely reaches 5.4% market share, but that seems to be enough to overtake other major platforms like BlackBerry and Apple iOS.

If Windows Phone is now the second largest smartphone platform with only 5.4% market share, I can’t imagine what the other two platforms’ market shares are.

Microsoft’s Windows Phone position on the Indian market is no surprise given the fact that carriers in the country do not offer Apple’s iPhone or BlackBerry’s smartphones at significant discounts.

“Windows Phone powered Nokia Lumia devices have achieved a striking growth in their volumes within a very short time since their launch in India. With new Windows Phone devices getting launched at short intervals, we expect them to continue on this growth trajectory,” said Manasi Yadav, senior market analyst, client devices, IDC India.

As expected, Indian customers prefer affordable smartphones and Nokia Lumia 520 and 620 are some of the most popular Windows Phone devices in the country.

This is the third consecutive quarter when Windows Phone platform emerges as the number 2 smartphone operating system in India.

For the time being, Microsoft and Nokia offer the following Windows Phone devices in India: Lumia 520, 620, 625, 720, 820, 920 and 925.

We expect the Windows Phone platform to strengthen its position in comparison with BlackBerry and Apple iOS, but we doubt it will chip away too much from Android’s market share.

“Less than ten months back, when we launched Windows Phone 8 in India, we had set ourselves the goal of being the second most widely used smartphone platform in India, and we are excited to have achieved this milestone so quickly,” added Vineet Durani, director, Windows Phone business group, Microsoft Corporation India Pvt. Ltd.