Study: Microsoft will capture 12% of W. European smartphone market in 2012

Microsoft's Windows Phone platform will capture a 12 per cent share of smartphone sales in Western Europe during 2012, according to a new report from Strategy Analytics, helped by the company's major hardware partners Nokia, Samsung and HTC. "Western Europe smartphone sales will reach 117 million units in 2012, growing 12 per cent from 105 million in 2011," Tom Kang, director at Strategy Analytics, said in a release. "We forecast Microsoft Windows Phone to be the fastest growing major platform next year, doubling its share of the Western European smartphone market from 6 per cent in 2011 to 12 per cent in 2012." While Neil Mawston, also from Strategy Analytics, cautioned that Microsoft faces ongoing challenges such as a lack of support for smartphones with dual-core processors, he also said in a statement that growing support from leading hardware vendors, notably Nokia, put "Microsoft in a good position to become Western Europe's third major smartphone platform behind Android and Apple iOS next year." Release