Windows Phone performance retrospective December 2014: Rise of Windows Phone 8.1 and other trends

In the final Windows Phone retrospective of the year, December 2014 saw an increase in the adaption rate of Microsoft's latest Windows Phone 8.1 operating platform.

Windows Phone 8.1 is now incorporated in nearly 58% of all Microsoft Windows Phone devices throughout the world.

These statistics made public by Adduplex [a Windows-based cross-promotion network for applications], also represents the growth in Windows Phone 8.1 via device updates and new devices running Microsoft's latest OS straight out of the box.

The latest Adduplex report signifies the decline of the older Windows Phone 8 operating platform, along with the Windows Phone 7.1. Both the older OSes have fallen sharply in December 2014.

Country-wise break-up of Windows Phone versions

In Europe

In the country-wise adaption of the Windows Phone operating system in Europe, Netherlands claims the number one spot in December 2014, as Windows Phone 8.1 drives a whopping 75% of smartphones in the region.

In the USA

In the US, the older Windows Phone 8.0 OS is still the leader with a 47.5% share, among all Windows Phone versions.

The newer Windows Phone 8.1 has a share of 46.6% among Windows Phone OSes.

Even the Windows Phone 7 mobile platform was still prevalent in the country during December 2014, with 6% of users preferring to run the legacy smartphone platform within their devices.

Worldwide Windows Phone device trends

Among Lumias, the Lumia 520 is used by maximum number of users with a 25.4% share in December 2014.

Windows Phones by other manufacturers accounted for nearly 33% of global usage.

Country-wise breakup of Windows Phone devices

In the UK

Smartphone buyers in the United Kingdom are know to embrace value-for-money devices, and the Lumia 520 is the most popular Windows Phones in the country with a 25.1% share.

Windows Phone manufactured by other makers [excluding Microsoft] account for a 22.4% share in the UK.

Among Lumias, the low-end Lumia 630 is on second place, with a 9.6% share. The Lumia 625 which runs the Windows Phone 8.0 out of the box comes a close third with 9% of users still owning the device.

Meanwhile, the older Microsoft Lumia 800, still has a presence in UK, with 4.8% of users owning the Windows Phone 7.5 Mango OS smartphone in December 2014.

In the US

The US witnessed a rise in the user-base of the Lumia 630 and its LTE-version the Lumia 635. However, the affordable and popular Lumia 521 still leads the Lumia stable with a 22.4% market share.

Windows Phones by other manufacturers also continued their upward surge, and now account for nearly 21% of Windows Phones in the United States in December 2014.

This month, Microsoft Lumias occupied a chunk of the top ten positions in the US as far as Windows Phone usage is concerned.

In India

India [also considered a primary Windows Phone market] witnessed the domination of the most popular Windows Phone device of 2013, the Lumia 520, which caters to budget smartphone buyers.

Other Lumia devices including the Lumia 530, Lumia 730 and the Lumia 630 witnessed significant growths in market share among Windows Phones in India.

Both the Lumia 530 and 730 broke into the top-10 Lumia smartphone rating in India, with market shares of 4.1 and 4.5% respectively.

Microsoft's first exclusively-branded smartphone, the Lumia 535 that was launched in India in fag-end of November is proving to be a popular budget alternative to high-end Android smartphones in India.

Windows Phone 8 manufacturers' trend

Nokia, [whose devices and services business was taken over by Microsoft] continued its dominance in December 2014, by manufacturing/supplying/selling 95.51% of Windows Phones around the world.

Other well-known manufacturers such as Samsung and HTC witnessed negligible decline in market shares which in December stood at 0.98% and 2.76% respectively.

Also, China-based Huawei accounted for 0.54% global Windows Phone market share, while other manufacturers lagged behind with a 0.21% share.

The market share of other manufacturers is expected to grow significantly in the coming months, according to the Adduplex report.

New Windows Phone devices on the way

Windows Phone loyalists across the world can expect a new Microsoft smartphone to be launched in the coming months, the report claimed.

This device spotted in December 2014 in Brazil, reportedly bears the model number RM-1068.

The smartphone is rumoured to feature a 4in WVGA display and incorporate low-end tech-specs to cater to budget smartphone buyers.

Another notable device spotted was the LG VW820, which is said to incorporate a 4.7in screen having resolutions of 480x854.

This smartphone was reportedly spotted in South Korea.