By Alexandra Burlacu | Aug 22, 2012 09:16 AM EDT
BlackBerry's downward spiral has been good news for its competition, especially Microsoft, as Windows Phone is now set to take over BlackBerry's spot as the third-ranked mobile operating system. Although Research in Motion (RIM) insists that its BlackBerry brand is not sinking, and is in fact doing well overseas, recent statistics indicate otherwise.
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According to a chart from StatCounter, posted by WMPoweruser, the market share of smartphones running RIM's BlackBerry OS and Microsoft's Windows Phone is about to change. Based on StatCounter data projecting trends for both platforms in the coming months, Windows Phone seems poised to overtake BlackBerry in November 2012.
This milestone is an even more impressive achievement for Windows Phone considering that it launched in the U.S. just two years ago, in November 2010, and it will now overtake one of the pioneers in the smartphone category. BlackBerry was topping the mobile arena in 2010, with 34.3 percent of the market according to StatCounter. Windows Mobile, Windows Phone's predecessor, was not even on the map then.
This crossover may occur even sooner than expected. A new line of Windows Phones should arrive soon, as Nokia and Microsoft are expected to unveil the first Windows Phone 8 smartphones at an event in September. Meanwhile, RIM has delayed the launch of its BlackBerry 10 platform several times already, and the new OS will not arrive until early 2013. That leaves Windows Phone with plenty of time to gain a significant edge.
Outside of the United States, RIM's position seems slightly better, although StatCounter still shows declining or nonexistent market share in Europe, Asia, and Oceania. The struggling BlackBerry maker is still trying to boost its position in Africa and South America.
RIM's decline is mostly the result of users ditching BlackBerry for more popular platforms such as Apple's iOS or Google's Android. According to web usage data, the ailing BlackBerry OS fell from a six percent market share to roughly three percent this year. Meanwhile, Windows Phone adoption is growing at a slow rate, inching up from just under one percent market share to about one and a half percent. If the two platforms continue their current trends, Microsoft's Windows Phone OS will overtake BlackBerry by less than two percent of the mobile market.
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