Windows Phone, Microsoft’s most recent mobile operating system, will surpass iOS market share by 2015, market research firm IHS iSuppli predicted last week.
Although currently in last place with 1.9% market share in 2011, Microsoft’s partnership with Finnish-based handset giant Nokia, which will deploy the Windows Phone OS on its current and future smartphones, will propel the young OS to second place status overall by 2015. Windows Phone’s predicted 16.7% market share will only barely beat Apple’s iOS, with 16.6%. The bad news for both companies is that Google’s Android, currently the number one platform by market share, is predicted to grow even further, taking the first ranked spot in 2015 with a dominant 58.1% share.
Chart by The Mac Observer from iSuppli Data.
iSuppli analyst Wayne Lam attributes a potential immediate jump in Windows Phone market share this year to Nokia’s new Lumia 900, which he called one of the hottest new products at this year’s CES. “This hot product represents Nokia’s first step to reclaim its market share. Combined with Nokia’s efforts to drive the development of the Windows Phone ecosystem, the Lumia 900 and its successors will help Microsoft to reclaim its No. 2 ranking in smartphone operating system market share in 2015,” Mr. Lam stated.
Further, although Nokia is not the only manufacturer producing phones powered by the Windows Phone OS, “because of Nokia’s support, apps developers will eagerly shore up the Windows platform. This will cause other makers of Windows Phone devices, such as Samsung and HTC, to offer more products supporting the OS—further expanding the market,” Mr. Lam forecast.
Predictions last year by research firms Gartner and IDC agree with iSuppli’s latest findings. They all predict Microsoft’s OS, powered by its Nokia partnership, to reach the number two spot by 2015.