Windows Phone Market Share Increases in Q1, iPhone Slips Slightly

Microsoft's Windows Phone platform still has a long way to go before it catches up to Android and iOS in terms of market share, but at least its numbers are on the rise, according to a recent report.

Kantar Worldpanel released numbers recently indicating that 5.6% of U.S. smartphone sales in the first quarter of 2013 were Windows Phone devices, up 1.9% year over year. That being said, those numbers still don't come anywhere close to that of Android and iOS, which accounted for 49.3% and 43.7% of smartphones sales in Q1 2013, respectively. Android sales were up 1.4%, but the iPhone lost some ground, dropping down 0.9% from the same period last year.

A good chunk of the Windows Phone sales came from first-time smartphone buyers, which accounted for 52% of Windows Phone customers. Possibly the biggest benefactor from this rise in Windows Phone market share is Nokia, which accounted for 4% of all smartphone sales in Q1 2013, up from 1% in the first quarter of last year.

Source: Kantar Worldpanel