It’s starting to feel like a cliche, but when Microsoft’s Windows Phone OS sees growth in marketplace, Research in Motion’s BlackBerry takes the hit. In any case, it looks like BlackBerry users have finally broken free from the spell of eternal stupidity that has been cast over them for the past 8 years. We’ve seen companies and agencies drop their BlackBerry’s in droves over the past year and half, from government agencies like NOAA; to large corporations, like Clorox, people are tired of the outdated UI and lack of apps that RIM has been passing off as “acceptable” for years. For a while, it looked like Apple’s iOS was the big winner from all the departures from RIM/BlackBerry, but as a new report from IDC shows, Windows Phone is not only beginning to show strong signs of picking up steam, but also picking up BlackBerry deserters.
Research Manager for European mobile devices at IDC, Francisco Jeronimo, says that year-over-year, Windows Phone has grown an amazing 156%. In the first quarter of 2012, Windows Phone showed a marketshare jump up to 4.1%, almost doubling their previous year’s share of 2.2%. RIM’s BlackBerry on the other hand, saw a sharp decline in shipments of 27%, shipping only 2.5 million devices. To make matters worse for the Canadian smartphone maker, while Windows Phone nearly doubled its marketshare, RIM nearly lost half of their marketshare, dropping from 17%, all the way down to just 9%.
Windows Phone is already receiving praise for its unique interface, fluid navigation and ease of use, the same can’t be said for RIM’s upcoming BB10. So far reports say that it’s nothing new, that it merely takes what other OS’s have done and only slightly differentiates itself, offering no real value to consumers. Microsoft however, is taking everything that people love about Windows Phone 7 and bumping it up in Windows Phone 8, giving users what they’ve asked for, faster, multi-core processors, higher resolution displays, NFC support and more. The fall season will be crowded, with the release of Android 5.0, iOS 6, BlackBerry 10 and of course Windows Phone 8. Hate to say it, but three’s company and four’s a crowd, someone is going to have to pack it up and go home. With Windows Phone on the rise, BlackBerry’s falling to the ground and Microsoft’s bankroll, I think it’s safe to say who’s going to be sitting at home, playing with their PlayBook.
Source: WP Life