“Sales of smartphones running Windows were four times higher in 2013 than in 2012,” Bogdan Lerescu, head of terminals with Vodafone Romania, the second leading mobile phone operator, told ZF.
In Cosmote Romania’s case, sales volume of Windows Phone terminals accounts for 12% of the total smartphones the company sold in 2013. “We can talk about a 7% increase year on year in 2013,” said Alin Jantea, hardware management manager with Cosmote, number three on the local mobile telephony market by revenue and customer numbers.
Mobile phone operators account for 75% of the mobile phones sales in Romania, according to Gersim Impex, the largest local mobile phone wholesaler.
GfK data, too, confirm the rise in Windows Phone smartphone sales that Vodafone and Cosmote (Orange did not return ZF’s calls for comment) announced. GfK monitors sales of smartphones, tablets, electronics and home appliances in Romania, among others.
The sales of mobile phones running Windows (calculated at full price, not contract price) rose significantly, by about 3.5 times in 2013 compared with 2012, GfK representatives said.
Several sources on the local telecom market said that the market share of smartphones running Microsoft Windows was more than 10% in November-December 2013. GfK, which does compile reports including such data, did not comment.
Microsoft representatives did not provide exact sales figures, either, but confirmed the growth trend.
“2013 was a reference year for Windows Phone terminals in Romania, with steady sales every month,” Ionut Gaota, Windows & Mobility Business group lead with Microsoft, told ZF.
Sales to business customers saw a significant increase, as such customers want powerful phones, the increased security of the platform, the Office suite productivity and the GPS software included on every Nokia Lumia model, he added.
Starting from the data provided by Gersim that four million mobile phones were sold in Romania last year, out of which 1.5 million smartphones, and judging from the information provided by Vodafone, Cosmote and GfK, the number of Windows Phone terminals sold in Romania is about 150,000.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)