Microsoft (MSFT) Windows Phone Makes Strong Headway in Europe (NOK)

Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT) Windows Phone platform is taking hold in Europe.

Kantar Worldpanel ComTech said today that WP accounts for 10.2 percent of the European market through October 2013. Data also points to WP surpassing a 5 percent U.S. smartphone market share.

One Kantar analyst commented, Momentum for Windows Phone is continuing, although its growth remains reliant on low-end handsets. In Britain, almost three quarters of Nokia Lumia (NYSE: NOK) sales in the latest period were low-end devices such as the Lumia 520 and 620 – a pattern that is similar across other EU markets ... China remains a key challenge for Nokia, with its market share languishing at 3.5 percent. Local Chinese brands are becoming increasingly dominant in the world’s largest smartphone market, selling high specification Android devices at low prices. If Microsoft partnered with a major local brand it could help drive Windows Phone momentum but, with the Nokia takeover imminent, this does not look likely to happen anytime soon.

Microsoft is lower in early trading Monday.

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