Windows Phone UK user base rises 240 per cent year-on-year

Bags 700,000 new British users over 12 months.
Kantar Worldpanel ComTech says Windows Phone-powered devices are increasingly rising in popularity among Brits. 700,000 new consumers adopted the line over the past year to encourage a 240 per cent user share increase over the 12-month period.
That said, the surge only takes the OS to a 6.2 per cent UK smartphone market share, but it's an important rise on the 2.4 per cent share from January 2012. The increase has likely been supported by the new WinPho 8 line of devices from Nokia and HTC.
Meanwhile, Android and iOS continue to dominate in the region with a 56.2 and 30.6 per cent share respectively, as BlackBerry falls to 5.8 per cent from 15.7 per cent.
Dominic Sunnebo, global consumer insight director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, said: "Nokia is spearheading this growth, with the Lumia 800 the leader among the Windows handsets. However, it is not the only manufacturer benefitting from the increasing popularity of Windows. HTC’s 8X is now the third bestselling Windows device in Great Britain, demonstrating the clear cross-manufacturer opportunity of the platform.
"With Windows now holding respectable market shares across most major European countries, a key question is who is losing out? In Great Britain, 17% of new Windows customers switched from Android, 26% from Symbian, 6% from RIM and just 2% from iOS. 47% were first time smartphone buyers.
“Understanding the source of growth for the Windows platform is crucial to devise and implement the right marketing and sales strategy. The fact that nearly one in five new customers switched from an Android device should give Microsoft, and its partners, confidence that its OS has what it takes to bring the fight to more established platforms. As almost 30% of its customers switch from rival OS’s, the worry that Microsoft will have to rely on attracting the dwindling pool of first time smartphone buyers to drive future growth is reduced."

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