It plans to become serious competition for iOS and Android.
Although IDC has forecasted that the skyrocketing growth in mobile marketing may slow to a more modest rate when compared to the tremendous explosion it has seen over the last couple of years, Windows Phone 7 will be surging ahead to level its playing field with iOS and Android.
It will be working with Nokia in order to try to achieve this goal.
In 2012, it has been predicted that there will be just over 4 percent in growth to the global smartphone marketplace. IDC data shows that this will have been the smallest increase that has been seen since 2009.
It is believed that the slowing of the growth is a result of the decrease in the shipments of feature phones, which are expected to fall by approximately 10 percent, as well as a worldwide economy that continues to fight to keep going.
The other notable announcement that was made within the IDC’s report was that the smartphone industry as a whole (which has also seen more moderate growth than in previous years) is now expected to include the Windows Phone 7 operating system among the major players. Until now, the share of the smartphone marketplace held by Windows has been a very small sliver when compared to Android and iOS.
Now, it has teamed up with Nokia to allow both companies to enjoy an all new rise in popularity, to increase their market share. The current market trends will be a vital part of bringing many feature phone users over to the smartphone sphere, particularly within the emerging marketplaces.
IDC has predicted that Windows Phone 7 will take a share of over 19 percent by 2016.
Its data shows that Windows will take the second place for mobile operating systems by that year.
Before it gets there, though, the mobile marketing industry will need to continue its struggle against some significant challenges throughout 2012, which will mean that vendors will not see the skyrocketing increases in sales to which they have so rapidly become accustomed. Though there were 1.7 billion cell phone units shipped last year, it is expected that 1.8 billion will ship in 2012.
