We’ve known for a while that Windows phone is going nowhere, at least not with Microsoft having no plans for new features and hardware, and data offered by Kantar indicates that the end of the platform is very close.
Given Microsoft’s reduced commitment to Windows phones, it’s not a surprise that sales of Windows phones have decreased dramatically during the three-month period ending October 2017.
In the EU5 period, which includes the biggest European markets (Germany, the UK, France, Italy, and Spain), Windows phones declined from 3.2% to 1.1%, falling no less than 2.1% versus the same period a year ago.
France is the country where the drop was the biggest, with Windows phone going down no less than 3.9% to eventually reach 1%. A big decline was experienced in Italy as well, where Microsoft’s mobile platform accounted for only 1.7% of total smartphone sales (versus 4.3% a year ago), while in Spain the decline totaled 0.3% and brought Windows phone to 0% share.
The terrible performance continued outside the European Union, and in the United States, for instance, the platform fell 0.7% to 0.5%. A bigger drop - 2.6% - was experienced in Australia, while in Japan it went down 0.1%.
The only country where Windows phone actually improved over 2016 is China. Microsoft’s mobile OS accounted for 0.3% of all smartphone sold during the time frame, an increase of 0.2% as compared to the previous year.
As for the future, it’s pretty clear that sooner or later Windows 10 Mobile would go extinct in all countries, especially due to the lack of updates and hardware to support the platform. Microsoft itself confirmed that this mobile OS has no place in its vision, and the latest investments in mobile are mostly targeted at Android and iOS apps and services that help the company remain an active player without its own platform.
