Smartphone Survey: New Hope for Windows Phone 7
Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 lags badly in the smartphone market with low single-digit share, but a new independent survey that digs into buyers' purchase plans indicates that the platform may be close to breaking out.
The survey released this week by Connected Intelligence, a service from the NPD Group, notes that the Google Android platform remains dominant.
"The Android juggernaut continues, and that's not great news for some of their OS competitors," said Linda Barrabee, research director for Connected Intelligence, in a statement. "For example, one-third of BlackBerry smartphone owners are most interested in Android for their next smartphone purchase. That said, Android is also experiencing continued competition from Apple's popular iPhone, as well as some nascent competition from Windows Phone 7."
The Connected Intelligence survey digs a little deeper than most smartphone market share reports by asking respondents what they're considering buying next.
Android dominates in those questions, as well, generating more interest than any other operating system at 63 percent and being the platform that consumers were "most interested in" at 36 percent.
Where it gets interesting for Windows Phone is that 44 percent of smartphone owners and those who intend to buy a smartphone are considering purchasing a Windows Phone 7 device.
An equally high number, 45 percent of consumers, are still not aware of Windows Phone 7, according to the Connected Intelligence survey. Another obstacle is the 21 percent of survey respondents who said they had "too much time or money invested in another smartphone OS."
Posted by Scott Bekker on September 21, 2011