Can Microsoft Nokia Make a Dent in Apple Samsung Handset Lead?

Microsoft's purchase of Nokia has been justified as a way of strengthening Microsoft's bid to win a bigger place in the mobile operating ecosystem. Some would say it will not be easy. Markets tend to become quite stable in the mainstream adoption or mature market phase. 

In June 2013, Apple gained nearly one point of market share, BlackBerry lost a share point and Microsoft grew one tenth of a percent. And Gartner says Microsoft passed BlackBerry in operating system share by August 2013. 

Worldwide Smartphone Sales to End Users by Operating System in 2Q13 (Thousands of Units)

Operating System	2Q13  Units	2Q13 Market Share (%)	2Q12  Units	2Q12 Market Share (%)
Android	177,898.2	79.0	98,664.0	64.2
iOS	31,899.7	14.2	28,935.0	18.8
Microsoft	7,407.6	3.3	4,039.1	2.6
BlackBerry	6,180.0	2.7	7,991.2	5.2
Bada	838.2	0.4	4,208.8	2.7
Symbian	630.8	0.3	9,071.5	5.9
Others	471.7	0.2	863.3	0.6
Total	225,326.2	100.0	153,772.9	100.0

Source: Gartner (August 2013)

Nearly 142 million people in the U.S. owned smart phones (59 percent mobile market penetration) during the three months ending in June, up four percent since March. 

Apple ranked as the top OEM with 39.9 percent of U.S. smartphone subscribers (up 0.9 percentage points from March). 

Samsung grew its share 2 percentage points with the release of its new Galaxy S4 model, ranking second with 23.7 percent market share. HTC ranked third with 8.5 percent, followed by Motorola with 7.2 percent and LG with 6.6 percent. Microsoft's purchase of Nokia 

Top Smartphone Platforms 3 Month Avg. Ending Jun. 2013 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending Mar. 2013 Total U.S. Smartphone Subscribers Age 13+ Source: comScore MobiLens
	Share (%) of Smartphone Subscribers
	Mar-13	Jun-13	Point Change
Total Smartphone Subscribers	100.0%	100.0%	N/A
Android	52.0%	52.0%	0.0
Apple	39.0%	39.9%	0.9
BlackBerry	5.2%	4.4%	-0.8
Microsoft	3.0%	3.1%	0.1
Symbian	0.5%	0.3%	-0.2