Windows Phones Outsell iPhones!

In what universe??? Even if you’ve stuck by Microsoft through all these years, I think that if you are a pragmatic person even in the loosest sense of the word, you would not really think that Windows Phones outsell iPhones. In any universe. Then again, stranger things have happened, and while the chances are that iPhones continue to outsell Windows Phone in your area, there are certain parts of the world where the reverse is true. It’s Microsoft’s dream come true, albeit in limited areas.

And of course, Microsoft was quick to celebrate the fact that Windows Phones outsell iPhones. Before the end of March, Frank Shaw, head of public relations at Microsoft, announced to the world that they are doing rather well. So well, in fact, that Windows Phones outsell iPhones in no fewer than seven countries. An excerpt from his blog post:

Windows Phone has reached 10 percent market share in a number of countries, and according to IDC’s latest report, has shipped more than Blackberry in 26 markets and more than iPhone in seven.

It couldn’t be clearer than that. Windows Phone is at the top in seven countries. Naturally, the announcement caught the eye of tech pundits, with everyone wondering exactly about the “identity” of those seven countries. Nick Wingfield’s (of The New York Times) curiosity got the better of him, and he actually went ahead and did some digging to find out what those seven countries are.

He got in touch with IDC, the research firm that provided the stats to Mr. Shaw. The answer?

• Argentina
• India
• Poland
• Russia
• South Africa
• Ukraine

But that’s just six! Apparently, the seventh country is really a group of small countries such as Croatia. This “seventh country” is, in fact, the “rest of central and eastern Europe”.

So is this reason enough for Microsoft to celebrate and anticipate a larger market share in the foreseeable future? Sad to say, it probably is not. The fact is that the IDC only looks at official phones shipped to the countries. Units which go through the gray market are not included in the numbers, and knowing how high taxes are in these countries, the chances are that there are more iPhones (and other devices) that have gone under the IDC’s radar. Sorry, Windows Phone.

[Image via gottabemobile]