Apple Inc. (AAPL) wants to dwindle the influence of Google Inc.’s (GOOG) mobile OS across the world. But this time, it seems difficult for the Cupertino based company to diminish Android’s halo effect. According to a recent report from Kantar Worldpanel, over the last three months ending February this year, Google’s Android and Microsoft’s Windows Phone were the two biggest gainers in terms of smartphone market share globally. Meanwhile, BlackBerry and Symbian experienced a significant decline in their smartphone market share across the world. However, Apple Inc.’s iOS succeeded to retain users’ interest, but the platform needs to put some extra efforts in this direction. More importantly, over the last three months ending February this year, BlackBerry smartphones had seen lackluster interest among consumers, even users in the U.K. were more willing to buy Android and Windows Phone smartphones.
Growth of Windows Phone Platform Could Be A Threat For Apple Inc. owned iOS
However, at this point of time, we can’t consider Microsoft’s Windows phone platform as a big threat for Apple Inc. owned iOS. But the growth rate of Windows Phone platform could be an alarm bell for Apple Inc. ‘s mobile OS. Â Indeed, the growth rate of Microsoft’s mobile OS is quite impressive, and the platform isn’t only a threat for iOS, but also for other mobile OSes, including BlackBerry, Symbian and more.
In the U.S., Windows Phone accounted for 4.1% of smartphone sales in the three month period ending February 2013, up from 2.7% during the same period back in 2012. Besides, the platform also accounted for 6.7%, 6.8%, 13.1% and 5.9% of sales in the Great Britain, Germany, Italy, and Mexico respectively during the same period this year.
On the other side, BlackBerry’s smartphones sales dropped to 0.7% in the U.S. during three months period ending February 2013, down from 3.6% during the same time a year back. More importantly, BlackBerry’ sales dropped even in the U.K, from 16.8% during three months period ending February 2012 to 5.1% during the same period this year. Of course, the performance of BlackBerry smartphones, in terms of shipments, was not up-to-the-mark level during the 3 months period ending February 2013.
Considering to Apple Inc. ‘s iOS -powered smartphone sales, these devices had seen a meager growth in worldwide markets, including the Great Britain, Italy and Australia during three months period ending February this year. More importantly, the sales of Apple Inc.’s iPhones declined in Germany and the U.S., compared to the same period of the last year.
Furthermore, Google’s Android showed off a staggering growth globally; the OS succeeded to grab 51.2% of U.S. market share, in terms of smartphones sales, during the three months period ending February 2013. The scenario of Android’s growth rate across different markets of the world was almost similar to the growth rate in the U.S., especially in many countries including Urban China, Germany and Australia, where the growth rate was even better than the U.S.
Who Will Pay Off For Android And Windows Phone Growth?
It’s clear from the latest stats that Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform is currently the fastest-growing mobile phone platform in the world. On the other side, the growth rate of Android doesn’t seem to slow down in coming two or three years. Then who will sacrifice for Android and Windows Phone? At present, Nokia’s Symbian and BlackBerry’s Mobile OS are sacrificing, but there’s also a possibility of decline of Apple Inc.’s iOS smartphone market share in coming years.
