Microsoft's Windows Phone mobile platform saw significant growth in Q2 2012, according to new figures released from independent research firm IDC, more than doubling its shipments from the previous quarter. The new figures show Microsoft is closing the gap between itself and RIM's BlackBerry platform in an effort to become the third most-popular mobile operating system.
The figures, released today, reveal 5.4 million Windows Phone and Windows Mobile devices were shipped last quarter, accounting for 3.5 percent of all smartphone shipments. The figure represents a 115.3 percent growth over the previous quarter, when 2.5 million Windows Phone and Windows Mobile devices were shipped, which accounted for 2.3 percent of all smartphone devices shipped during the first quarter.
Despite the gains, the figures show Windows Phone still lags far behind Android and iOS. Google and its OEM partners shipped 104.8 million Android devices, accounting for 68.1 percent of all smartphone shipments in Q2, while Apple shipped 26 million iPhones, accounting for 16.9 percent of all smartphone shipments during the quarter.
"The mobile OS market is now unquestionably a two-horse race due to the dominance of Android and iOS," said Kevin Restivo, senior research analyst at IDC. "With much of the world's mobile phone user base still operating feature phones, the smartphone OS market share battle is far from over. There is still room for some mobile OS competitors to gain share, although such efforts will become increasingly difficult as smartphone penetration increases."
Source: IDC
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