No, Windows Phone won’t be catching up to Android in terms of market share anytime soon. However, there is one key area where Windows Phone may at last surpass Android: It might soon generate more revenue for Microsoft than Android does. Beyond Devices takes a look at some of the latest numbers for Windows Phone revenues in Microsoft’s latest earnings report and finds that revenue generated from Windows Phone licensing has narrowed the gap with licensing revenue collected from Android handset manufacturers.
In all, 42% of licensing revenues came from Windows Phone vendors on the quarter while 58% came from Android vendors, Beyond Devices estimates. If Windows Phone keeps showing impressive sales growth over the next few quarters then it could soon generate more revenue for Microsoft than Android does within the next year.
“Given the overall growth rate of Windows Phone relative to Android, and the higher fee per device for Windows Phone licensing, it’s likely that the percentage of revenue from Windows Phone licensing will continue to grow over time, such that it may well account for the majority of revenue in the overall ‘Windows Phone’ bucket sometime in late 2014 or early 2015,” writes Beyond Devices. “I’d estimate that it will be another billion-dollar business for Microsoft within the first couple of quarters of 2014.”
A graph showing estimates of Microsoft’s Windows Phone and Android revenue shares follows below.
