Earlier this week, research firm Gartner said that sales of smartphones with Microsoft-based operating systems inside went up by 124.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012. Now the other big smartphone sales research company, IDC, has come out with its own estimates and its results sound even better for Microsoft
IDC"s press release states that the combined sales of Windows Phone and Windows Mobile products came in at six million units worldwide for the last three months of the year, compared to 2.4 million units for the same period a year ago. That was a 150 percent increase and brought Microsoft"s smartphone market share up to 2.6 percent.
IDC"s report added:
The addition of Nokia"s strong commitment behind the platform was the key driver in Microsoft"s success. At the same time, the relationship has benefited Nokia, which amassed 76.0% of all Windows Phone/Windows Mobile smartphone shipments. Beyond Nokia, however, is a short list of other vendors who have been experimenting with Windows Phone while also supporting Android.
Even with that big of a change, it was not enough for third place. BlackBerry, despite seeing sales of its phones drop by 43.1 percent in the quarter, ended up in the third position in IDC"s chart, with 7.4 million units and a 3.2 percent market share.
Android-based smartphones continue to lead the pack with 70.1 percent of the market, followed by Apple"s iOS smartphones in second place with 21 percent
Source: IDC | Image via IDC