Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) Making Phone Gains in Europe

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) had received a lukewarm response in the U.S. for not only the Windows 8 operating system in general but also the Windows Phone 8 OS and correlated devices. But while Windows smartphones are having a hard time making gains in a U.S. market dominated by Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), apparently Redmond is making some real headway on the European continent, according to the latest market research released by Kantar WorldPanel.

Microsoft Corporation (MSFT)

The research revealed sales numbers for a 12-week period that ended Christmas Day, and the numbers indicated that Windows Phone devices powered by Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) passed BlackBerry by Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ:RIMM) by achieving 5.4 percent of the overall European market – seemingly taking share from BlackBerry and devices running the Symbian OS by Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK). Nokia doesn’t lose out, though – it reported that it sold 4.4 million Lumia handsets in the last quarter of 2012, all of which are running the Windows Phone OS.

In specific countries of Europe, Windows Phone by Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) made large gains in the market over the same period a year earlier. In Italy, for example, Windows Phone devices take up nearly 14 percent of the market after occupying just less than 3 percent of the market a year earlier (an increase of nearly 500 percent). In Spain, the growth is more than 400 percent, for 0.4 percent to 1.8 percent; and in Great Britain, 2.2 percent market share increased to 5.9 percent (a growth of more than 160 percent).

Will this last? That might be a question, as Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ:RIMM), after transitioning its management team and changing its product focus, announced recently that it will release its new BlackBerry 10 operating system at the end of the month, and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) did not necessarily kill off BlackBerry in Europe – which just might open the door for a resurgence over the next several months.

What are your thoughts about Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) and its progress with Windows Phone? Is there legitimacy to this, or just a phase? We’d like your thoughts in the comments section below.

DISCLOSURE: I own no positions in any stock mentioned.

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