Microsoft expects its newly launched Windows Phone to become a strong
challenger in the smartphone market, Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said
on Monday.
Google's Android and Apple's iPhone devices dominate the
smartphone market. However, Microsoft unveiled its Windows 8 products 10
days ago and Ballmer said that expects sales of Windows Phone to grow
fast.
"With the work we have done with Nokia, HTC, Samsung and
others there is now an opportunity to create really a strong third
participant in the smartphone market," he said in Tel Aviv at
Microsoft's first Windows 8 launch outside the United States.
"We are still relatively small. I expect the volumes on Windows Phone to really ramp quickly."
Finnish
phone maker Nokia last week launched its Windows 8-based Lumia
smartphones, on which the company's recovery hopes rest. Nokia, once the
world's biggest mobile phone manufacturer, last month reported an
underlying loss for a third straight quarter.
Shipments of
Android-based smartphones made by Samsung, HTC and other vendors nearly
doubled in the third quarter, reaching 136 million units, according to
industry research company IDC. The strong sales boosted Android's share
of the worldwide smartphone market to 75 percent, from 57.5 percent in
the same period last year.
Apple's share of the market rose to
14.9 percent during the third quarter, from 13.8 percent a year earlier.
Apple's iPhone uses the company's own iOS mobile software.
Ballmer
said that there will be more marketing and advertising around Windows
8, its Surface tablet and Windows Phone than for any previous Microsoft
products.
He also reiterated that Microsoft sold more than four million upgrades of Windows 8 in the first weekend after its launch.
"The
initial reaction to these products has been really really phenomenal
... And if you look at how people will get Windows 8, the truth of the
matter is more people over time will get Windows 8 by buying a new
computer than by upgrading old computers," Ballmer said, noting that 400
million personal computers are sold globally each year.
© Thomson Reuters 2012