Windows Phone Outselling Symbian In The UK

Microsoft's market share in the United States may have been slipping as of late, but what about in the UK? According to market research firm Kantar Worldpanel, Microsoft and Nokia's gambit may be paying off: Windows Phone 7 has outsold Symbian handsets for the first time, and the Nokia Lumia 800 is proving popular across Europe too.

According to the research, 2.5% of UK consumers bought a Windows Phone handset compared to 2.4% for Symbian over a three month period that ended on February 19th. Not only that, but the Nokia Lumia 800 accounted for 87% of all Windows Phone sales in Europe. Windows Phone apparently does best in Germany, with it accounting for 3.1% of the market.

The stats also show results from operating systems like iOS and Android. In the UK, Apple has seen an increase from 22.7% a year ago to 28.7% today. Android, meanwhile, dominates the charts, owning 48.5% of the market, up from 37.8% this time last year.

Finally, British consumers are increasingly interested in buying smartphones, which accounted for 73.2% of phone sales over the past three months. Over half the population now reportedly owns a smartphone: 51.3%, to be precise.

[via Bloomberg]