As Windows Phone share grows, some see Android KitKat for low-end devices as a direct answer to Lumia 520

posted by Daniel P. / Nov 04, 2013, 5:24 AM

As Windows Phone share grows, some see Android KitKat for low-end devices as a direct answer to Lumia 520

Market research firm Kantar has released its Q3 mobile industry report, and the verdict is the same as that of ABI Research last week - the biggest mover is Windows Phone. Granted, Kantar's numbers cover the five major European markets, where Windows Phone sales have been particularly strong on account of Nokia's brand name recognition, as opposed to the US.

Still, Kantar reminds that on average one of ten smartphones sold in UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain is a Windows Phone. That predominantly means a Lumia, as Nokia makes the vast majority of phones with Microsoft's mobile OS. The leap in Europe comes on the heels of such a WP bump in places like Australia and Latin America, and Kantar's Dominic Sunnebo has an explanation:

With the smartphone market in developed countries so congested, it is emerging economies that now present manufacturers with the best opportunity for growth.

Nokia dominated in Latin America for many years, and while its popularity declined with the fortunes of Symbian it now has an opportunity to regain the top-spot. The majority of consumers in Latin America still own a Nokia featurephone and upgrading to an entry level Lumia is a logical next step. Price is the main barrier in developing markets and the budget Lumia 520 opens the door to smartphone ownership for many.

In fact, some analysis is suggesting that Google went through the trouble to optimize Android 4.4 KitKat for devices with as little as 512 MB of RAM in an era where some handsets are pushing the 3 GB barrier because it wants to curb the success of phones like the Lumia 520. Nokia sold millions of that colorful cheap handset in emerging markets last quarter, displacing entry level Androids there without a doubt.

source: Kantar & NPU

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25 Comments

1. mousesports

Posts: 286; Member since: Feb 28, 2013

I really like this . Keep it up and push the updates faster

posted on Nov 04, 2013, 5:39 AM 6

10. jaytai0106

Posts: 1888; Member since: Mar 30, 2011

YES!! Competition!!

posted on Nov 04, 2013, 7:05 AM 0

2. jeff1434325

Posts: 97; Member since: Aug 07, 2012

Yeah!...Keep it UP Windows Phone! Sent from Galaxy S3:)

posted on Nov 04, 2013, 5:39 AM 4

3. WHoyton1

Posts: 1635; Member since: Feb 21, 2013

well done WP, i suppose....quite a poor OS IMO but others seem to like it....however if android can nail those good low end smartphones with no lag then WP market share will shrink dramatically!

posted on Nov 04, 2013, 5:58 AM 3

4. sri_tech

Posts: 188; Member since: May 21, 2013

Android without lag is still a dream. Galaxy nexus performance improved a lot with 4.1 Jelly bean. But after 4.3 it was lagging like hell. It takes 3-4 seconds to go to homescreen from any app. My friends S3 is even worse.

posted on Nov 04, 2013, 6:15 AM 8

6. apple4never

Posts: 1064; Member since: May 08, 2013

huh, maybe a fragmented update, because on 4.3 my n7 (2nd) n4 s3 all dont lag on homesreen, are you sure the animation scale isnt all the way up

posted on Nov 04, 2013, 6:32 AM 2

7. sri_tech

Posts: 188; Member since: May 21, 2013

I don't know about n7 or n4. Galaxy nexus is definitely lagging since 4.3. I don't know what you mean by fragmented update but my update was from Google only.

posted on Nov 04, 2013, 6:41 AM 1

8. LetsBeHonest

Posts: 1548; Member since: Jun 04, 2013

I don't know about 4.3 but I saw an entry level smartphone, xperia M which has no lag at all . I think it also hold same processor as Lumia 520.

posted on Nov 04, 2013, 6:55 AM 3

11. dickwyn

Posts: 621; Member since: May 07, 2012

we'll just have to see how samsung low end devices with kitkat out of the box to see wheter is kitkat really optimized for low end

posted on Nov 04, 2013, 7:17 AM 0

14. kashyap07

Posts: 15; Member since: Sep 10, 2013

So true!! I own it and yes it's really smooth and buttery ( I don't say that 520 isn't smooth cuz wp itself is smooth) and I'd always prefer Android to wp.. (especially xperia m due to otg support and stuff like that).

posted on Nov 04, 2013, 7:46 AM 1

17. bon24x7

Posts: 211; Member since: Aug 30, 2012

Xperia M is good but it has 1GB ram not 512MB and it costs more than Lumia 520.! CPU and GPU are same though.

posted on Nov 04, 2013, 8:52 AM 0

20. kashyap07

Posts: 15; Member since: Sep 10, 2013

Maybe you're right.. But in India it costs like 30 -35 $ more... A flash, build quality, front cam, otg support , nfc and bigger battery would make up for it I guess.. But it has its downsides too.. The screen isn't that good -kind of washed out and the camera isn't that good either..

posted on Nov 04, 2013, 9:24 AM 0

23. bon24x7

Posts: 211; Member since: Aug 30, 2012

As per the prices on Flipkart, Xperia M costs Rs 13490 whereas a Lumia 520 costs just Rs 8149. That's $86 more as opposed to $30-35 like you say it to be. Maybe its available cheaper somewhere else, but in most cases Xperia M is over the $200 mark for an unlocked device. Considering that, Xperia L is a better bet as it comes with Snapdragon 400.

posted on Nov 04, 2013, 10:10 AM 0

21. sri_tech

Posts: 188; Member since: May 21, 2013

But Xperia M has only 4GB memory while 520 comes with 8GB.

posted on Nov 04, 2013, 9:32 AM 0

24. sprockkets

Posts: 1612; Member since: Jan 16, 2012

Why 4.3? It wasn't much of an upgrade at all.

posted on Nov 04, 2013, 4:12 PM 0

5. apple4never

Posts: 1064; Member since: May 08, 2013

so if a crappy phone like the xperia j for example gets the 4.4 update, it would improve performance because its laggy garbage on 4.3

posted on Nov 04, 2013, 6:31 AM 0

13. Shatter

Posts: 2036; Member since: May 29, 2013

Yes. It would.

posted on Nov 04, 2013, 7:42 AM 0

9. JakeLee

Posts: 1021; Member since: Nov 02, 2013

Well, they should update the Galaxy S II instead of working on new products, if they want to compete the "evil" Apple. For how long shall the app developers target Eclaire? Apple's transition to 64-bit will be fully completed within four years at max, starting as early with the removal of 32-bit silicons from their upcoming A8(or A9 at the latest). Apple can and will do this thanks to the total control over their own AppStore. Can Qualcomm or Samsung LSI do this? No, not even in 10 years due to the fragmentation. Don't be fooled by the market share numbers. Samsung is currently pretty much the only Android OEM that makes profits. Hardly any "weaker" OEMs like HTC will survive Apple's new, 64-bit-only-SoC pressure. And even the survivors will have their products degraded to second rate ones while Apple dominating the by far most lucrative premium sector which further raises the brand value. If Google continues doing nothing against the fragmentation, all this will very likely happen, gradually and suddenly. Google should take some extreme measurements accelerating Android's transition to 64-bit, but instead, Google is doing exactly the opposite : Thank you very much for discontinuing updating Galaxy Nexus. PS : And what prevents Apple from entering the lucrative server market as a side job? They have the finest ARM SoC known to mankind, top notch engineers (both SW and HW), own dev tools, own OS, and -most importantly- lots of cash. Google might be in Apple's top customer list then.

posted on Nov 04, 2013, 6:57 AM 2

12. xoxoGeorges

Posts: 209; Member since: Jul 11, 2013

Google can always try to optimize their OS for low-end but OEMs will never give up their custom bloatware...

posted on Nov 04, 2013, 7:27 AM 1

15. mturby unregistered

They keep talking about kitkat and low end phones. Lets face it, who knows if the carriers will push this update to old low end android phones? the carriers barely push updates to some high end devices. why worry about updating an old device? u thinkg verizon will update 512 ram phones with kitkat just like that?

posted on Nov 04, 2013, 7:51 AM 0

16. xperiance

Posts: 44; Member since: Oct 22, 2013

Xperia m is an answer for lumia 520...

posted on Nov 04, 2013, 8:41 AM 0

19. bon24x7

Posts: 211; Member since: Aug 30, 2012

Xperia M has the same CPU and GPU but has 1GB ram instead of 512MB for Lumia 520 and is often sold for around $60-80 more than the Lumia 520's retail price in most of the available markets..not sure how that's an answer to Lumia 520. -_- But Xperia M is a really good low end android device IMO.

posted on Nov 04, 2013, 9:00 AM 0

18. Daniel_88

Posts: 4; Member since: Aug 09, 2013

Yeah cause windows phone, it's a great operating system , the live tiles are a really cool feature, and it's a really smooth operating system, no lag unlike android.

posted on Nov 04, 2013, 9:00 AM 0

22. residualhatred

Posts: 25; Member since: May 28, 2012

I am a low-end user and have been for the quite a while. I currently have the LG Optimus F3 with android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean. Now the F3 has a dual-core snapdragon 400 (1.2GHz) with 4 GB ROM-1 GB RAM. According to this article and the hearsay, the F3 would be in-line for an update to 4.4. Forgive me if I am skeptical. As a low-user I have come to assume no updates. So I will believe it when I see it.