Windows Phone Overtakes Symbian in U.K. … With 2.5 Percent Share
Nokia’s Windows Phone effort is begining to gain traction in Europe, particularly in the U.K. There, Nokia Windows Phone-based handsets have begun to outsell handsets running the company’s old mobile OS, Symbian.
Research outfit Kantar Worldpanel ComTech reports that Windows Phone has captured about 2.5 percent of the U.K. mobile market, edging out the dusty Symbian line, which captured just 2.4 percent — down from 12.4 percent a year ago. Driving its push into the market: Nokia’s Lumia 800 smartphone, which accounted for 87 percent of Windows Phone 7 sales in Europe.
Encouraging news for Nokia, in that there are now signs that adoption of its Windows Phone handsets is on the rise — albeit slowly. That said, 2.5 percent is a piddling portion of the U.K. market. Less than that, considering that Nokia is believed to have sold only 900,000 Windows Phones during the fourth quarter of 2011.
And then there’s that 10 percent drop in Symbian market share, which certainly isn’t providing any help for Nokia’s brand awareness or finances.
So, in the end, it’s great that Nokia appears to be making some headway with its Windows Phone strategy, but it needs to make a hell of a lot more, and soon, if Symbian usage is dropping off so precipitously.