WINDOWS GROWTH IN US IN Q1 2013

US Market OS % Share of Smartphone Sales - 3 months ending March 2013
3 months ending Mar 13
3 months ending Mar 12
iOS
Android
Windows
RIM
Other
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Network % Share of Smartphone Sales
AT&T
Verizon
Other
SprintNextel
T-Mobile
3 months ending March 2013
49.3% Android share of US smartphone sales
43.7% iOS share of US smartphone sales
KANTAR WORLD

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While Android and iOS remain the top contenders, Windows steadily moves upwards

As iOS and Android continue to battle it out for top selling smartphone OS, Windows has grown steadily over the past year and is now at its highest sales share figure so far.

While accounting for just 5.6% of smartphone sales in the first quarter of 2013, Windows gained 1.9% compared to the same period last year, according to US smartphone sales data by Kantar Worldpanel ComTech.

With nearly half (49.3%) of smartphone sales, Android remains the top selling operating system, but saw only slight growth compared to the same period last year, and is down versus the 3 months ending February 2013 (-1.9%). iOS remains in second place with 43.7% of smartphone sales, down throughout Q1 2013.

Windows strength appears to be the ability to attract first time smartphone buyers, upgrading from a featurephone. Of those who changed their phone over the last year to a Windows smartphone, 52% had previously owned a featurephone. Comparatively, the majority of iOS and Android new customers were repeat smartphone buyers, with 55% of new iOS customers, and 51% of new Android customers coming from another smartphone. While the differences between these figures are small, with over half of the US market still owning a featurephone, it's likely that many will upgrade over the coming year, which will ultimately contribute to more growth for the Windows brand.

Little movement is seen among the top smartphone carriers in the U.S market. Verizon continues to lead smartphone sales with 37.2% of smartphones sold in the 3 months ending March 2013. AT&T remains in second place at 27.9%, and Sprint in third place with 12.3%. T-Mobile is the only carrier to decline this period, seeing a 3.2% loss versus the same period a year ago, down to 9.5% of smartphones sold.

Source: Kantar Worldpanel