Microsoft claims to have seen "record sales of Windows Phone this holiday"

Neowin ^ | 01/09/2014 | John Callaham

[SeekAndFind]

Microsoft is using CES 2014 as a venue to give an update on sales of Windows Phone devices to members of the media. There was already evidence that products using the OS have gained a lot of sales and increased market share in Europe in the past few months and today Microsoft said that it saw those sales increase even more during the recent holiday sales period.

In a statement sent to Neowin by a Microsoft spokesperson, the company said:

We’ve seen record sales of Windows Phone this holiday worldwide, nearly doubling phone sales during Christmas week (YOY). In the third quarter this year, according to IDC, Windows Phone reinforced its position as a top three smartphone operating system and was the fastest-growing platform among the leading operating systems with 156% year-over-year gain. Windows Phone is the #2 smartphone operating system in 14 markets, and shipped more units than iPhone in 24 markets in Q3. Our portfolio continues to expand: from award-winning flagship devices like the Nokia Lumia 928/1020/1520, to affordable new innovations like the Lumia 520/625/1320 and Huawei W1/W2.

Microsoft says the 14 markets where Windows Phone is currently the number two mobile OS are:

India

Mexico

Italy

Chile

Thailand

Vietnam

Malaysia

Poland

South Africa

Ukraine

Hungary

Finland

Czech Republic

Greece

The 24 markets where Microsoft says Windows Phone devices out-shipped the iPhone are:

Chile

Colombia

Czech Republic

Egypt

Ecuador

Finland

Greece

Hungary

India

Italy

Kenya

Kuwait

Malaysia

Mexico

Nigeria

Pakistan

Peru

Poland

Saudi Arabia

South Africa

Thailand

Ukraine

United Arab Emirates

Vietnam

As usual when Microsoft provided an update on its Windows Phone division, the company did not offer any specific unit sale numbers of those devices.

[nickcarraway]

14 phones?

[SeekAndFind]

The Indian, Mexican and Chilean markets are HUGE.

[cableguymn]

28. They where bogo.

[Attention Surplus Disorder]

Stock is getting crushed from 38. IMO might be a buy around here 35.5x. Very boring, slow moving stock. The market LOVED the idea that Ballmer was going to resign, did NOT like the notion that Mullaly would NOT be coming after all.

[bigtoona]

Love my windows phones. My wife has the Nokia Lumina 1020 (the one in the commercial with the awesome camera.) I have a Lumina 920 which is nice but a little big so I just bought the Lumia 520 for $59 with no contract and I LOVE IT. Its small, and the back cover comes off so you can access the battery and swap it out. It doesn’t have a flash but the screen is amazing, you can read it in full sun.

The interface blows iphone and Droid away in my opinion.

[Nifster]

sorry I am laughing so hard that I lost hal of my peach tea…. need new keyboard

[FlingWingFlyer]

I’ll bet the kids over at the NSA are really jumping through some hoops trying to keep up. LOL!

[The KG9 Kid]

Windows Phone = Smartphone for third world nations.

Which is fine. No insult intended.

[jospehm20]

Nokia 520 is cheap as can be and has a lot of features. I bought two for my grandsons and one for me to use overseas.

[paudio]

I believe in Europe, at least in UK, the sales numbers were high because they have lower-end Nokia that were relatively cheap.

[circlecity]

For me, most of the stuff I used to do with a smart phone, other than talking and texting, I now do with my tablet. So, price is the critical factor in the phone I choose.

[ImJustAnotherOkie]

They left off the huge market of Dumbassland.

[bigtoona]

The 520 and 521 are on sale again... good deal

http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/list/No-Contract-Windows-Phones/categoryID.63434300?Icid=Homepage_WhatsNew_1_No_Contract_Phone_010613

[Sherman Logan]

Glad it worked for you. I had one a couple of years ago, and it was awful. Even before it bounced down a whole flight of concrete stairs.

[SeekAndFind]

SOURCE

While the numbers provided by Microsoft are indeed better than no increase at all, when compared to Android sales, the sales of Windows Phones are still a drop in the bucket. Another report, this one from Gartner (via Microsoft-news.com) shows that even combined phone/desktop/laptop/tablet sales have Android in a huge lead, which according to Gartner should continue into 2015:

Microsoft has done well to capture 10% of Europe’s market share, but it’s a market where Nokia had traditionally done well. Will the brand change upcoming, when Microsoft will no longer be able to use the Nokia name for new phones, make a difference there?

[BBB333]

“...The interface blows iphone and Droid away in my opinion.”

Sure it does.

Sure.

With the worthless interface, on my lowly iPhone, my NON-TECH savvy wife can:

Access over 410 movies
Access over 100 TV shows
Access her workout videos - from any TV in the house
Access 7,000 songs from our collection of music.
Access our photo albums on our TV
Have guests to our home share their photo albums on our TV (and share their music on our stereo)
Access and operate my computer using my TV

- Oh, I can also create and edit MS: Word, Excel and PowerPoint files while on my couch.

As a (former) MOS Certified Specialist, I think the Windows phone has a ways to go.

Just my opinion.

[Jerry Attrick]

LOL. I am always amazed at the iphone fanboys that make it their life to put down anything but that phone. Android has the same.

I’m curious. Does it make you feel superior in some way to blast a company that puts out a very good product but happens to not be what you want? Have you ever owned a Windows phone (8)?

Personally, I don’t care if the phone I want is number 1,2 or 50 in the market. It is the one that best fits my need and experience. I have owned an Iphone, 3 androids and now 2 Windows phones. By far, the best experience for me has been Windows phone and especially my Nokia 920. I’m looking forward to getting more phones from Nokia.

In the meantime, I am not feeling it necessary to bash Iphone or Android. I just don’t use them. And I certainly don’t have to increase my own self-esteem by jumping on a bandwagon of haters.

[Jonty30]

That’s not critiquing the software itself, just the apps. You are correct that Microsoft does need more apps, but the phone OS is very well developed as far as I can tell and is supposedly ahead of Android and Apple in terms of being able to be productive on whatever system - laptop, tablet, or phone you wish.

[BBB333]

Or not.