Windows Phone’s global market share is in very bad shape… but things could always be worse. The Guardian reports that new data from research group eMarketer shows that Windows Phone’s user base in the United Kingdom is poised to limp past BlackBerry’s this year, thus marking the first time that Microsoft’s mobile OS has surpassed BlackBerry in the Land of Hope and Glory in terms of active user base.
FROM EARLIER: Windows Phone is dying on the vine
Per The Guardian, eMarketer has found that “from a position at the end of 2013 where BlackBerry had 3.6m UK users, against 1.9m for Windows Phone and legacy Windows Mobile users, by the end of this year Blackberry will have 2.4m users, against 2.7m for Microsoft’s platform.” While this is certainly an achievement for Windows Phone, beating BlackBerry in total user base at this point is a little bit like beating up a wheelchair-bound blind three-year-old child — that is, it’s not exactly something to proudly crow about.
This is particularly true because eMarketer projects that iOS and Android will both see their user bases increase by substantially more than what Windows Phone’s user base will increase by this year. So while Windows Phone may have succeeded in vanquishing BlackBerry in the U.K., it still has a very, very long way to go to top the two biggest players.
