Windows Phone continues to grow in popularity as smartphone sales rocket

Windows Phones shipped more than Apple's iPhone in 24 countries

The Windows Phone platform might have had a slow start, but it's finally starting to make significant ground on Apple's iOS and Google's Android platform.

We reported late last year that the Windows platform had made significant progress in Europe in the 2nd quarter of 2013. And the success story has continued into the 3rd quarter of last year and over the all important Christmas period.

Microsoft have issued a statement revealing that they've 'seen record sales of Windows Phone this holiday worldwide, nearly doubling phone sales during Christmas week year-over-year (YOY).'

They also commented on the most recent data released by the IDC, which shows that in the 3rd quarter of 2013 sales of Windows Phones jumped 156% year-over-year. That firmly cemented the platform as the 3rd most popular mobile operating system , but impressively it jumped to number 2 in some countries and even outsold Apple's iPhone in others.

Windows Phone is currently the 2nd most popular operating system in: India, Mexico, Italy, Chile. Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Poland, South Africa, Ukraine, Hungary, Finland, Czech Republic and Greece. While it outsold Apple's iPhone in: Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Egypt, Ecuador, Finland, Greece, Hungary, India, Italy, Kenya, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Poland, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Thailand, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates and Vietnam.

Microsoft's platform still has a long way to go in more-developed Western nations (such as the UK and US), where the Android and iOS platforms still account for more than two-thirds of the smartphone market - but Windows Phone is making ground all the time.

The spread in popularity of the Windows platform is in no small part thanks to Nokia's Lumia range, including the popular Lumia 520 pictured above. But Huawei's Windows smartphones have also played their part and a whole host of other manufacturers have launched their own models.

As the platform continues to grow the number of applications and games available to download is growing, which is great news for Microsoft because the number of apps available on the Windows Marketplace has always been one of the platforms major stumbling blocks.

We can only see the Windows Phone platform continuing to grow in popularity over the next year, especially given that Nokia Mobile are now owned by Microsoft themselves. As soon as 3G.co.uk get any more news about the Windows Phone operating system you'll be the first to know.

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