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Report: Windows Phone 7 Consumer Interest on the Rise
Connected Intelligence, a New York-based analytic group that studies the consumer handheld market, has released fidings that shows 44 percent of current smartphone users are considering buying a Windows Phone 7 device in the future.
However, the interest in devices running Microsoft's mobile OS is still well behind overall market interest in Google's Android platform, which has a 63 percent interest rating among respondants (current smartphone owners and first-time buyers) who plan on buying a new smartphone in the next six months.
"The Android juggernaut continues, and that's not great news for some of their OS competitors," said Linda Barrabee, research director for Connected Intelligence, in a press release. "For example, one-third of BlackBerry smartphone owners are most interested in Android for their next smartphone purchase."
If Microsoft wants to stay competitive with the Android platform, it may need to increase its marketing efforts. Connected Intelligence found that 45 percent of consumers questioned aren't even aware of the Windows Phone 7 OS.
Similar numbers arose with consumers who answered that they were not looking at Microsoft's platform for their next device purchase. Fifty percent of respondents who said they were planning to purchase a smartphone, but are not planning on going the Windows Phone 7 route said the number one reason for their choice was the lack of knowledge in the platform.
"Windows Phone 7 has a way to go before consumers really understand what it is," Barrabee said. "But with the right marketing mojo, apps portfolio, and feature-rich hardware, Microsoft could certainly improve its standing and chip away at Android's dominant market position."
It is unclear on how the Windows Phone 7.5 update, code-named "Mango," will affect consumer interest. Microsoft may start rolling out new devices featuring the revised OS starting next week.