Gartner provides new market share data for WP

Nov 19, 2015 05:51 GMT  ·  By
Windows Phone devices will get the upgrade to Windows 10 Mobile in the coming weeks
   Windows Phone devices will get the upgrade to Windows 10 Mobile in the coming weeks

Windows Phone is generally referred to as “the platform with just 3 percent of the market,” and everyone hopes to see this changing when Windows 10 Mobile becomes available in just a few weeks.

But in the meantime, Microsoft's mobile operating system is going in the opposite direction, with new statistics provided by research firm Gartner showing that Windows Phone is actually losing market share points these days.

According to Gartner, a total of 353 million new smartphones were sold in the third quarter of 2015, and Android is the clear leader with nearly 299 million. iOS is second with 46 million while Windows Phone is third with just 5.8 million. Put this in percentage points, and we get a market share of just 1.7 percent for Windows Phone, down from exactly 3.0 percent in the same quarter of 2014.

Windows 10 Mobile will bring only small changes

And even if the hopes are high that Windows 10 Mobile could generate a significant boost for Microsoft in the smartphone business, Gartner says that no big differences are expected, as most people will still go to Android and iOS.

The enterprise market will continue to be the main target for Windows 10 Mobile devices, analysts say, so the share of Microsoft's upcoming platform won't be significantly improved.

“Despite the announcement of Windows 10, we expect Windows smartphone market share will continue to be a small portion of the overall smartphone OS market as consumers remain attracted by competing ecosystems. Microsoft smartphones will mainly focus on driving value for enterprise users,” said Roberta Cozza, research director at Gartner.

Windows 10 Mobile is projected to launch in just a few weeks, and Microsoft has recently shipped what's believed to be the RTM version of the operating system to users enrolled in the Windows Insider program. Some of the devices running Windows Phone should get the update in early December, with a second wave likely to follow in early 2016.