Windows Phone posts highest ever European market share

Microsoft's mobile platform finally starting to gain traction, with a double digit market share in both France and the UK

A worker poses with the new Nokia Lumia 925 at its launch. (REUTERS/Luke MacGregor )

Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform is continuing to grow in Europe, with sales figures from the three months leading up to August 2013 showing a 9.2 per cent share across the five major European markets.

In France and Great Britain Windows Phone even hit double digit figures for the first time, with a market share of 10.8 per cent and 12 per cent respectively.

These reassuring figures come a month after Microsoft purchased Nokia for €5.4bn. The Finnish phone-manufacturer‘s handsets provide the vast majority of Windows Phone sales, with analysts confirming that the platform’s growth is being driven by low and mid- range handsets like the Lumia 520 and 620.

"These models are hitting the sweet spot with 16 to 24 year-olds and 35 to 49 year-olds, two key groups that look for a balance of price and functionality in their smartphone,” says Dominic Sunnebo, strategic insight director at Kantar Worldpanel.

In Germany, Windows Phone was only a single percentage point behind iOS, though Apple’s sales continued to grow strongly in the US, where they now make up 39.3 per cent of the market.

Android remains the top operating system across Europe with 70.1 per cent of the share in Europe, but these latest figures indicate that it might finally be losing its grip thanks to Windows Phone and iOS.

“After years of increasing market share, Android has now reached a point where significant growth in developed markets is becoming harder to find,” says Sunnebo. “Android’s growth has been spearheaded by Samsung, but the manufacturer is now seeing its share of sales across the major European economies dip year on year as a sustained comeback from Sony, Nokia and LG begins to broaden the competitive landscape.”