Windows now has less than 1% of the worldwide smartphone market, according to new research, again calling into question whether the Microsoft platform can survive — and whether it matters if it doesn’t.
According to new research from analyst firm Gartner, Windows Phone and Windows Mobile were on just 0,7% of smartphones sold to end users in the first quarter of 2016, down by 2,5% in the same quarter a year ago. Sales slumped from 9,3m to just 2,4m, according Gartner data.
At the same time, Android’s market share rose from 78,8% to 84,1%, increasingly making the Google operating system look like the Windows of the mobile era.
Some 294m Android smartphones were shipped in the first quarter, up from 265m a year ago.
Apple’s iOS, meanwhile, slipped from a market share a year ago of 17,9%, to 14,8% in 2016. iPhone sales declined in the same period from 60,2m to 51,6m, according to Gartner.
News of Microsoft’s poor performance in mobile comes just days after the company revealed it would sell Nokia’s feature phone business to China’s Foxconn for US$350m and hinted that it might not make any more Lumia-branded smartphones. Speculation points to Microsoft rebranding its smartphone efforts as Surface in line with its popular tablet and hybrid PC line-up.
According to Gartner, global sales of smartphones to end users totalled 349m units in the first quarter of 2016, a 3,9% increase over the same period in 2015. Smartphone sales represented 78% of total mobile phone sales in the first quarter of the year.
“Smartphone sales were driven by demand for low-cost smartphones in emerging markets and for affordable 4G smartphones, led by 4G connectivity promotion plans from communications service providers in many markets worldwide,” the company said.
In the first quarter of 2016, Samsung extended its lead over Apple with 23% market share. Apple had its first double-digit decline year on year, with iPhone sales down by 14%. — (c) 2016 NewsCentral Media
