Windows Phone to Be 3rd Mobile OS by 2016, Research Shows

The global smartphone market is expected to increase significantly during the next few years, while undergoing a series of changes determined by the recent partnership between Nokia and Microsoft.

According to a recent report from Ovum, Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 operating system is expected to become the third most used OS on the smartphone market by 2016.

The platform would be close to taking the second place from Apple's iOS at that time, with 17.2 percent market share, compared to the 17.5 percent the latter would enjoy.

The first position on the market would go to Android, which is expected to grow significantly in the following years, accounting for 38 of the market in 2016.

“The success of the Android platform is being driven by the sheer number of hardware vendors supporting it at both the high and low ends of the market,” Ovum principal analyst Adam Leach said.

He also notes that the entire smartphone market would increase significantly over the next few years, reaching shipments of 653 million in 2016, accounting for around 40 per cent of the mobile phone market.

“The smartphone market will see significant growth over the next five years, once again outperforming the wider mobile phone market,” Adam Leach commented.

“We will see dramatic shifts in dominance for smartphone software platforms, with Android storming into the lead with 38 per cent market share, compared to Apple iOS’ 17.5 per cent, by 2016.”

While Windows Phone is expected to be the third mobile OS, with 17.2 percent market share, the BlackBerry OS, should be close on the fourth place, with 16.5 percent.

Leach continued: “We expect at least one other platform to achieve mainstream success within the forecast period. This could be an existing player in the market such as Bada, WebOS, or MeeGo, or it could be a new entrant to the market place.”

The deal between Nokia and Microsoft should result in lower Symbian shipments as the company moves to Windows Phone, but there would still be Symbian-based handsets delivered to end users beyond 2012, the research firm notes.