The IDC awards Windows Phone 0.1% market share, notes lack of commitment from Microsoft

If you are a still a Windows Phone user you are by definition somewhat of a masochist, ignoring the comforts of a well-supported phone OS in favour of the asceticism of Live Tiles and Edge.

Reading the IDC’s quarterly smartphone tracker would, therefore, hold no fear for you, and similarly discovering that Windows Phone held 0.1% market share in Q1 2017 would not either.

Gone are the pleasant days in 2015 when Windows Phone was the 1%. Now, at 0.1%, the OS is even more exclusive, only purchased by those who appreciate Microsoft’s vision of Windows-powered smartphones even more than the company itself.

In fact, the IDC commented on Microsoft’s commitment to Windows Phones, noting:

Windows Phone shipments continue to fall as the lack of new hardware partners, developer support, and overall enthusiasm for the platform show no immediate signs of recovery. IDC expects 2017 volumes to decline 80.9% to just 1.1 million units. Microsoft has yet to fully commit to any “Surface”-style attack for smartphones or to push new vendors to embrace the platform, leaving little hope of mounting a full scaled comeback in the years to come.

The other smartphone operating systems, of course, have their own story to tell, but seems to have settled into the same dichotomy as the desktop computing world, with the iPhone the Mac and Android the PC.

The IDC writes:

Android: The discussion around Android’s share of the smartphone market became irrelevant a few years back when it became clear that devices running Google’s OS would continue to capture roughly 85% of the worldwide smartphone volume. What is interesting is to look at the many micro-trends going on within the platform. Despite a slew of very attractive high-end Android products, IDC continues to see Android average selling prices (ASPs) decline and expectations are that the 1.5 billion Android phones that ship in 2021 will have a collective ASP of $198, down from $220 in 2017Q1.

iOS: Coming off the first year in which iPhone shipments declined, expectations are that 2017 volumes will grow 3.8%. IDC slightly lowered its 2017 projections for iOS in its latest forecast to 223.6 million, while increasing its 2018 volumes to 240.4 million. All signs point to late 2017 and certainly, 2018 being very strong for Apple as much of its installed base seems ready for a refresh and the next round of iPhones is not likely to disappoint its fans.

A total of 344.3 million smartphones were shipped worldwide in the first quarter of 2017 (1Q17) according to the IDC Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker with worldwide smartphone shipments growing 3.4% in 1Q17 year over year.

The IDC’s full report can be read here.