Since its debut in late 2010, Microsoft’s Windows Phone mobile operating system has failed to make a splash the tech giant might have wanted. Even with the great handsets from Nokia, the OS has yet to make the gains the world has seen from Android and iOS. Well, according to Forbes, Microsoft’s mobile OS could overtake Apple’s iOS in as little as three years.
It’s true that Windows Phone has seen impressive year over year growth, but idea that it will overtake iOS in the coming years is a pill that’s a bit hard to swallow. Unsurprisingly, Nokia’s Windows Phone handsets have been the most popular models running the operating system, which offer some of the best cameras you can find on a smartphone. Still, it’s pretty telling when the best part of a smartphone has nothing to do with the core operating system it runs on.
Windows Phone is currently the fastest growing mobile operating system around, and came in at 3.6% of the market by the 3rd quarter of 2013, where Android and iOS ended the quarter with 81% and 12.9%. Windows Phone has seen the greatest gain in emerging markets, and this is a key to its success.
While Windows Phone could eventually overtake Apple by sheer volume, we have our doubts that it will be in three years. Even if it does overtake Apple’s mobile operating system in the next few years, that still doesn’t translate to money earned, though that’s not the point Forbes is trying to make here. Only time will tell.
If you’re an Android or iOS user, what would it take for you to buy a Windows Phone handset as your next smartphone purchase?