Currently, the market for smartphone operating systems is dominated by the Google Android platform and Apple’s iOS. 67% of the market is devoted to these two smartphone operating systems. The only other system even close to these two powerhouses is the RIM Blackberry OS which currently holds 20% of the market. That however is set to change. Market research giant IDC is projecting that by the year 2015, Windows 7 phone will not only be competition for the Android, iOS and Blackberry, but it will outsell the latter two and could become the second most popular mobile operating system.
Windows Phone 7, often abbreviated as WP7, is an operating system for the smartphone designed by Microsoft. This system offers an innovative user interface and has features that resemble the Microsoft home computing system. Since being released in October 2010, the system has received some very positive reviews. This includes praise for the fluidity of the navigation system and the responsive controls on the touchscreen. The only low points according to the reviewers were the so-so e-mail132013201320 system and the lack of multi-tasking options.
Of course, Microsoft plans to help to fix those problems when they update their OS in the Fall of 2011 with what they call the Mango release. This will bring along hundreds of new updates as well as improving the e-mail132013201320 system, improving search functions, social media integration and even dealing with multi-tasking as well. Included will also be an HTML5 friendly Internet Explorer.
It is all of these features that are leading IDC to speculate that through the Mango updates, the market is going to grow rapidly for the Windows Phone 7. There are many skeptics who doubt that an operating system that only makes up 9% of the market will have a sudden boom in popularity large enough to overtake Apple and compete with Google. However, the WP7 is quickly growing in popularity and there are more applications in the Windows Marketplace than there were in the Android Store at the same age. In fact, these naysayers are the same ones who claimed that the iPhone would never be able to compete in the market as well.
When you consider everything that the Windows phone 7 can offer, there is no doubt that some people will begin to switch the smartphone that they are using. Whether it becomes the biggest operating system around and actually overthrows the Android isn’t etched in stone yet. What you can be sure of is that with the upcoming release of Mango, there is certainly a chance that the smartphone OS market could be shifting. That shift could result in a third company coming in and changing the two horse race into a tighter three horse showdown for the chance to be the most used smart phone operating system.
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