Although Windows Phone has shown some impressive gains over the past year it’s still trailing far behind Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS in terms of both total number of users and mobile developer interest. However, Business Insider reports that Microsoft is looking at the bright side and saying that at least its mobile platform is doing better than BlackBerry, the famously beleaguered Canadian smartphone pioneer that spent a good chunk of 2013 with a “For Sale” sign on its back.
Business Insider notices that Microsoft started off its MWC video presentation this year by bluntly stating that “we’ve overtaken BlackBerry,” which apparently drew chuckles from the tech press around the room. Although Windows Phone certainly has solidified its spot as the world’s No. 3 mobile operating system, beating BlackBerry at this stage of the game just isn’t that tough — IDC says that BlackBerry’s share of smartphone shipments in the fourth quarter of 2013 was a measly 0.6%.
One big issue for Microsoft going forward is the seeming lack of OEM interest in making new Windows Phone devices. Nokia last year basically saved Windows Phone from total oblivion, although even Nokia isn’t unveiling any new Windows Phone devices at MWC this year despite the fact that it’s in the process of being bought out by Microsoft. Instead, Nokia is using MWC to showcase its first ever Android phones. No other smartphone OEM at MWC this year — not Samsung, Huawei, ZTE or anyone else — plans on unveiling any Windows Phones either — the action is still all around Android.
