The latest tracking stats for Windows phones have been released by advertising network AdDuplex, which monitors usage across its network to create a detailed monthly breakdown of Microsoft's mobile ecosystem. Each month, the reports capture a snapshot of worldwide usage across one 24-hour period - in this case, October 19, 2016.
Perhaps the most significant takeaway from this month's report is the fact that very little has changed for Microsoft's mobile platform. This paints a slightly troubling picture for its latest smartphone OS.
In August, AdDuplex figures showed that 14% of all active Windows phones were running Windows 10 Mobile, and that figure didn't change at all in September. Now, for a third consecutive month, the OS is shown to be on around 14% of devices (actually 13.7%, but the tiny indicated decrease is likely to be within the margin of error for data collection, and not necessarily definitive evidence of an actual decline in usage).
Windows 10 Mobile devices have now been on sale for almost a year, while the OS has been available as an upgrade for seven months. After three months at 14%, it seems clear that the OS is no longer growing. Microsoft's own phone revenues fell to just $300 million last quarter - down from $2.6 billion in the same quarter two years ago - but with its own phone sales rapidly declining, its hardware partners don't seem to be selling Windows 10 Mobile handsets in any meaningful volumes to fill the gap left by Microsoft.
Of the proportion of Windows phones running Windows 10 Mobile, around 85% are now running the Anniversary Update, up from 82.4% last month. 5.6% are running Redstone 2 builds of the OS on the Windows Insider Program, roughly the same as in September.
The Lumia 535 remains the most widely used Windows phone, extending its lead over the Lumia 520 compared with last month. None of Microsoft's Windows 10 Mobile handsets are in the top 10; indeed, most of the phones on this list are much older, including the Lumia 625, which is now well over three years old.
The Lumia 535 is the second most widely used handset running Windows 10 Mobile, just behind the Lumia 550, which was released with the new OS onboard last year. AdDuplex notes that HP's new Windows 10 Mobile flagship, the Elite x3, is at number 36 on the list.
On the PC side of things, the Anniversary Update is now installed on 76.6% of Windows 10 machines - more than double the 34.5% figure from last month, indicating that Microsoft has greatly accelerated the pace of that update's rollout in recent weeks. Microsoft has said that it expects to complete the rollout of the Anniversary Update by early November.
You can check out the full summary of this month's AdDuplex report here, and the detailed monthly report will be published on Monday on the AdDuplex blog.
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