A new report issued by Gartner projects that Windows Phone 7 will be part of the holy mobile trinity by 2013 – right behind industry heavyweights Android and iOS.
Indeed, the recent Nokia-Microsoft alliance is expected to catapult the nascent platform from its current humble rankings to the third largest mobile OS worldwide.
“[We have] revised [our] forecast of Windows Phone’s market share upward, solely by virtue of Microsoft’s alliance with Nokia,” explained Gartner principal analyst Roberta Cozza.
“Although this is an honorable performance it is considerably less than what Symbian had achieve in the past underlying the upward battle that Nokia has to face.”
According to Cozza, by the end of 2011, Android will become the most popular mobile OS and remains on track to claim 49% of the smartphone market in 2012.
“As vendors delivering Android-based devices continue to fight for market share, price will decrease to further benefit consumers,” said Cozza.
“Android’s position at the high end of the market will remain strong, but its greatest volume opportunity in the longer term will be in the mid- to low-cost smartphones, above all in emerging markets.”
Meanwhile, Apple’s iOS is projected to remain the second biggest platform through 2014 – despite slightly decreasing after a noticeable peak in 2011.
As expected, RIM’s share will steadily decline (even with the migration to QNX), reflecting the “stronger competitive environment” in the consumer market, as well as increased competition in the business sector.
