Signs Point to Younger Generation Favoring Microsoft's (MSFT) Windows Phone (NOK)

Though many have written off Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT) Windows Phone 8 operating system as an also-ran platform, those naysayers might want to think twice.

CNET published an article about how Clash of Clans, a game only available for Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) iOS, was something that brought the author and two of his sons back to Apple's operating system. Clash of Clans is a combat strategy game...not the most groundbreaking of ideas, but it has a few quirks that make it stickier with respect to peers in its segment.

But, there was a paragraph in the review that we'd like to highlight. The author wrote the following:

My 12-year-old son has been a Windows Phone user since the "will they switch test" I ran with both my boys earlier this year. Microsoft let him hang onto the phone that he ended up loving on a long-term loan. And he's continued to love it more than the iPhone 4 he left behind.

His 12-year-old son was a rabid fan of his Nokia (NYSE: NOK) Windows Phone 8 handset. The test he was referring to started last March, meaning the youngster was still so enamored with the device that they turned it into a "long-term test."

Given that this story is relatively new, it's not clear whether or not the game turned the author's son back on to iOS. The author does note that he himself has regressed to carrying either his new Galaxy S4 and iPhone around, or just the iPhone around by itself to keep up with what's going on in the game.

Of course, the above is a very, very, very tiny example of what might actually be happening in the marketplace. If Microsoft can get a similar game going -- like a Draw Something or Angry Birds of the past -- imagine how hooked the next-generation of users will be, which in turn will be a boon for Microsoft, its hardware partners, and related investors.

Shares of Microsoft are lower in early trading Friday.

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