Microsoft hasn’t tended to announce many numbers for the growth of its Windows Phone OS, fuelling speculation that it’s not doing very well. Analysts have tended to be more bullish though, with Portio Research the latest to publish an encouraging set of predictions. It reckons global Windows Phone shipments for 2012 will reach 30m, rising to 138m in 2016 – by which time it’ll have overtaken Symbian and BlackBerry. “Windows will hold a steady and solid, growing third place after iOS and market leader Android, through to 2016 and beyond,” writes analyst Karl Whitfield. The company has also broken out some European figures, claiming that Android accounted for around 54% of smartphones shipped in Western Europe 2012, ahead of iPhone (24%), BlackBerry (10%) and Windows Phone (7%). In Eastern Europe, Android is even more dominant: 61% of shipments in 2012 with a big drop to iPhone (13%), Windows Phone (11%), BlackBerry (7%) and Symbian (7%). A reminder that the big opportunity for services like Nokia’s Mix Radio aren’t just in developed Western markets.
Tools: platforms to help you reach new audiences
Tools: Kaiber
In the year or so since its launch, AI startup Kaiber has been making waves,…