Latest data from an analytics firm indicates that Nokia and Microsoft's futures are intertwined. According to the data, Nokia's fortunes depend on the future performance of the Redmond-based company.
On Aug. 21, analytics firm Localytics revealed that Nokia, among all Windows phone makers, has become the most dominant player. However, this dominance may not be sufficient to help Nokia discard its woes as the Windows phone market has not seen any notable growth of late.
According to the study, which took into consideration January to July data, the number of Windows Phone handsets have grown by 312 percent and 273 percent worldwide and in the U.S, respectively. Additionally, Nokia (like Microsoft) has shown improvement in controlling its Windows Phone market share. The Finnish company's global share has gone up from 22 percent to 59 percent in July, followed by HTC at 21 percent, Samsung at 13 percent, and all other device manufacturers at 7 percent. In the U.S., Nokia's market share has gone from zero to 32 percent during the same period. However, according to the report, HTC ousts Nokia in the U.S. Windows phone market with 36 percent of market share.
Nokia made a loss of $1.7 billion in the first quarter of 2012 and reportedly, is fast losing its market. Currently both Nokia and Microsoft are pinning their hopes at the success of Windows phone but a recent IDC report stated that the Windows phones account only for 3.5 percent of all the smartphones shipped. Therefore, Nokia, even after ruling the Windows phone market cannot rule the smartphone market until it does something different.
IDC suggested that "Microsoft will need to generate additional momentum from Windows Phone 8 devices, which will be introduced this fall, if it is to narrow the share gap further between itself and the three mobile OS leaders."
Windows 8, the latest Microsoft OS, adds a built-in wallet, customizable homepage, and is based on the same Windows NT core used by the company's desktop software. However, its latest OS will not support any existing Nokia, HTC, and Samsung phones.
