• by Steve Smith  @popeyesm, September 4, 2013

Opinions are flying (all over the map, really) about the wisdom/stupidity of Microsoft's decision to buy Nokia’s devices and services. But there is less doubt that the platform bet behind this deal, Windows Phone, is becoming a contender.

Kantar Worldpanel ComTech weighed in with its latest statistics on smartphone penetration worldwide to show that Microsoft's struggling latecomer to the mobile scene is enjoying its highest penetration ever in Europe. Across the five major markets, Windows Phone has an 8.2% share. “Windows Phone, driven largely by lower priced Nokia smartphones such as the Lumia 520, now represents around one in 10 smartphone sales in Britain, France, Germany and Mexico,” says Strategic Insight Director Dominic Sunnebo in a Kantar post.

In fact, in Mexico, its 11.6% share makes Windows Phone the second-most popular smartphone in that market -- a first for the platform.

Windows Phone’s success is coming with those who are newly converted to smartphones. Kantar finds that 42% of its sales over the past year came from customers upgrading from feature phones and buying their first smartphone. Only 27% of Android and iOS customers switch operating systems, and generally, those people are moving across the Google or Apple platforms.

The lower-priced Lumia phones appear to be appealing to the smartphone newbie’s search for a quality entry point into the market. With more than half the world’s cellular customers still on feature phones, the potential for a third OS to grab a large part of the remaining market share in next-gen phones is considerable.  

Android continues to dominate world smartphone sales with about 70% of the European market. But Apple is making gains in the U.S. market -- now up to 43.4% of sales, and is growing share in major European and Latin American markets.

Apple clearly has its eye on the mid-range market of late-adopters. The company is expected to roll out a much less expensive version of its iPhone at a presentation on September 10. Dubbed in the press and tagged in leaked photos the “iPhone 5C,” the model is rumored to sport a rounded plastic shell in a range of colors aimed at the broader consumer market worldwide. Android and iOS devices will be battling fiercely over the Chinese market where smartphone penetration is still below 25%.