Why is Windows Phone Outselling the iPhone in 24 Countries?

There have been a lot of reports out tracking third and fourth quarter 2013 results for smartphone sales. These reports are both local for the U.S. while others show the worldwide results. If there is one thing that is clear from these reports that is the fact that Android devices have a stronghold on the market with more than an 80 percent market share.

What may come as more of a surprise is that while many people do not consider Windows Phone to be a player, it is in actuality gaining more ground every day. A new report from IDC that was released in November 2013 with third quarter results indicated that sales for Windows Phone grew by 156 percent.

It would seem that there are 24 countries that prefer to have a Windows Phone than an iPhone. In comparison, the numbers are not even close. Picking up on this trend, Microsoft has decided to look a little deeper and see which countries and areas that Windows Phone was outselling the iPhone.

This is the list of countries where Windows Phone is making major headway. The countries are Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Egypt, Ecuador, Finland, Greece, Hungary, India, Italy, Kenya, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Poland, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Thailand, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates and Vietnam.

What may come as a surprise is that in more than half of these countries, Windows Phone actually took the second place slot for overall phone sales. This means that Windows Phone outsold BlackBerry and Symbian devices.

The 14 countries mentioned are Chile, Czech Republic, Finland, India, Italy, Greece, Hungary, Malaysia, Mexico, Poland, South Africa, Thailand, Ukraine and Vietnam. This is interesting because just a year earlier, Windows Phone only outsold iPhones in seven countries. In 12 months it was able to gain 156 percent more sales.

Some of the reasons for Windows Phone’s success, as listed by Forbes, is as follows:

• 156 percent is easier to achieve on a younger platform with a smaller market share
• Italy and Finland aside, Windows Phone is primarily growing in poorer nations where the iPhone is prohibitively expensive
• Q3 is typically a slow period for Apple AAPL +0.85% with sales dipping ahead of expected iPhone refreshes
• iPhone sales boom over the Christmas period and Q4 figures have yet to be announced
• Windows Phone sales are most in the low end with the Lumia 521 (top) and 520 accounting for 42.4 percent of all shipments
• Nokia Nokia accounts for 93.2 percent of all Windows Phone handset sales highlighting little traction or interest from companies where Microsoft does not have control

I have made mention in the past that it is more difficult for iOS and Android devices to gain a lot of ground. Their numbers are already in the high double digits. However, if you are a company that until recently had about 100 sales, followed by a really good year where you sold 225 units, that alone amounts to about a 67 percent increase.

We can say that it is not surprising that Windows Phone did extremely well. In some of these countries the iPhone is incredibly expensive, so you can see that there is a market for the lower end Lumia phones from Nokia.

Because of this price discrepancy, the argument that certain groups are making is that Windows Phone is only gaining ground in markets where the iPhone doesn’t really compete in, so how can there be a comparison?

The counter argument is that Windows Phone also seems to be growing, somewhat, in Europe as well. There are five countries that are part of the European Union (EU) that are taking a liking to Windows Phone. These are Britain, Germany, France, Italy and Spain.

The following chart gives you a little insight into this:

While these numbers seem to show incredible growth for Windows Phone, keep in mind what I said earlier. If your numbers are low to begin with, then any additional sales will reflex in rather large percentages. This is not to take away from the progress that Windows Phone is actually making.

One thing that a company with multiple products can do is cater to many smaller groups. This also creates a situation where you can realize larger numbers. When you combine a lot of smaller groups you end up with one very large group. Is this enough for Windows Phone to be a force to be noticed? Only time will tell.