BlackBerry OS to Fall Behind Windows Phone in November

Windows Phone stands to gain from BlackBerry OS's steady decline.

It's no secret that BlackBerry maker Research In Motion is in trouble. The company has been struggling for a while and is hoping to turn things around with its BlackBerry 10 OS. Meanwhile, Microsoft is going hell for leather in its attempt to match the likes of iOS and Android. The company is preparing to launch Windows Phone 8 this fall, and partner Nokia is set to reveal the first Windows Phone 8 handsets in a couple of weeks' time. Now it looks like Microsoft's Windows Phone OS might pass BlackBerry OS in marketshare as soon as November.

WMPowerUser points to StatCounter data in reporting that BlackBerry OS's falling marketshare may soon drop below Windows Phone. WMPowerUser says the projection is based on extrapolating StatCounter web usage data from the beginning of the year. If correct, it would make Microsoft's mobile operating system the number three mobile OS in the United States by November.

As it stands, StatCounter puts iOS (green) in the lead with 48.98 percent of the market. Android (pink) is in second with 38.76 percent, while BlackBerry OS (dark green) and Windows Phone (black) bring up the rear with 4.64 percent, and 1.23 percent, respectively. Last month, BlackBerry OS had 4.91 percent of the market (0.27 percent more than August), while its marketshare at the beginning of the year was 7.52 percent. If you wind that back a year, to January 2011, BlackBerry OS was sitting pretty in second place with 26.05 percent of the market. Android surpassed BlackBerry OS to become number two in February of 2011. This switch in positions was a result of Android's growth as well as the decline of BlackBerry OS. Windows Phone has grown from 0.72 percent to 1.23 percent since the beginning of 2012.

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