Android “crushing” Windows Phone 7 also benefits Microsoft
Microsoft’s mobile operating system market share down since the Windows Phone 7 launch.
But the company is still profiting, thanks to Google Android.
A new report posted by comScore has revealed that Microsoft is still failing in the smartphone operating system business, in fact, the Windows Phone 7 failed to resolve the rapid decline of Microsoft in the smartphone industry.
The new quarter vs quarter data that the firm has provided showed that last quarter alone, Microsoft’s mobile operating system that features live tiles instead of the conventional icons suffered a plummeting market share, from 7.5% in 2011 Q1 (first quarter) to 5.8% in Q2 (second quarter) — and that’s a total of 1.7% decline.
Apparently, Google’s popular mobile operating system, the Google Android, is the top gainer with a 5.4% increase in market share, from 34.7% in Q1 to 40.1% last quarter. Apple’s strong and exclusive platform, the iOS, also gained share with 1.1% increase. The Q2 market share of Apple is also showing that the lack of new hardware doesn’t necessarily mean that the market share of the software will decrease. Research in Motion’s BlackBerry operating system also recorded a negative mark with a 3.7% down compared to Q1′s results.
But the growing Android market share is not actually a bad news for Microsoft. In fact, Microsoft reportedly generated about $60 million in revenue courtesy of Taiwan-based OEM HTC. According to Asymco analyst Horace Dediu’s estimates, Android has given Microsoft more revenue last year than Windows Phone platform.
Here is Dediu’s computation, Microsoft has reportedly generated approximately $21 million from Windows Phone after licensing 1.4 million units with the tag price of $15 each handset. But because HTC has agreed to pay Microsoft royalties due to a patent agreement, Microsoft’s $5 per device condition has accumulated at least $60 million of revenue last quarter courtesy of HTC’s impressive Q2 record of 12 million Android handsets.
HTC is quickly becoming popular in the smartphone market, in fact, the company is one of the top 5 smartphone manufacturers last quarter based on the amount of units shipped. It’s also worth noting that HTC is one of the partners of Microsoft in the Windows Phone platform business. HTC is expected to sell another Long Term Evolution Android smartphone this year, the rumored HTC Vigor, which could arrive by Thanksgiving. HTC is already selling an LTE device under the Verizon Wireless banner, the HTC Thunderbolt.
Google Android could also increase its market share this year (which is a good news for Microsoft) with the new Android operating system build, the so-called Ice Cream Sandwich. According to reports, the Ice Cream Sandwich will address the problems like “fragmentation” that critics are accusing related to platform glitches and bugs. The new Ice Cream Sandwich will reportedly unite the smartphone (Gingerbread) and the tablet (Honeycomb) ecosystems, and will also support new screen sizes like 7 inches and 8.9 inches.
Additional reporting by: Jean Xiam Sun
Read more Microsoft and Windows Phone articles.
Related News:
Advertisement
Recommended
-
Sony Xperia T, TX, V and others getting Android Jelly Bean, soon!December 18th, 2012
-
BlackBerry 10 leak confirms similarity with Android?December 18th, 2012
-
Apple iPhone 5 sales in China reaches 2 millionDecember 18th, 2012
-
Nokia Lumia 920 software update arriving soon, to fix the PureView cameraDecember 17th, 2012
-
Exynos “security flaw” affecting the Samsung Galaxy Note 2, Galaxy S3?December 17th, 2012
