Bill Gates divests Russia of Windows Phone

Divested Russia, India and Brazil

On 30 May, the administration of Microsoft sent out a message to its partners and investors. It was said the company changed its smartphone sales strategy. Now Microsoft's phones can be purchased in key markets of the company only.

Sixteen countries were on the list – mainly Western Europe countries, the USA, Australia. The Russian Federation was not included. Apart from Russia, India and Brazil will be divested of Microsoft smartphones.

This statement was a continuance of Microsoft's new policy towards its own production. Earlier the company decided to restructure its business concerning the production of smartphones and, consequently, cut 1,850 working places.

Absolutely without Windows Phone

Not only Microsoft's own devices but also Acer, HTC, Highscreen, Prestigio, Fly smartphones use Windows OS. But, according to the data on macdigger.ru, devices of Microsoft accounted for 2,3m smartphones out of 2,4m in the first quarter of 2016.

Not only Microsoft's own devices smartphones use Windows OS. Photo: windowphone.ru

Other brands are hardly represented in Russia. 'As for other brands of 'smart' Windows Phone-powered phones, in fact, the Russian market doesn't have them,' Maria Zaikina, head of the press service of Svyaznoy retailer, thinks.

So, the refusal to sell the devices will lead to the departure of Windows Phone from the Russian market.

Low sales?

It is supposed this decision is explained by sales that reduced because of the economic crisis. And the sales indicator in the countries included in the list was high. However, sales of Windows smartphones in the Russian market increased in November 2015. At least it is what Euroset told.

According to Vedomosti, who included a link to the press service of Euroset, market share of Windows Phone increased from 4 to 7% in 9 months in 2015 and reached the level of IPhone.

'In 2015, Windows smartphones accounted for about 3,5% in the global market. Meanwhile, in Russia, due to a successful aggressive expansion of small price segment at 6-10,000 rubles, in 2015, Windows smartphones had 7% of the market and become a rival of Chinese producers,' Timur Nigmatullin, financial analyst of FINAM GC, said to Realnoe Vremya.

Maria Zaikina: 'In April, gadgets of this brand were in the top 5 popular smartphones both in retail networks and on the Internet'

In Svyaznoy, a correspondent of Realnoe Vremya also confirmed the popularity of Windows Phone among the clients of Tatarstan and Russia.

'Our company has the whole range of Microsoft's smartphone. Phones of all price brackets are popular. Apple, Lenovo, Fly, Alcatel, ZTE, ASUS and LG are the most popular brands in the market of Tatarstan. Microsoft's smartphones are also in demand. In April, gadgets of this brand were in the top 5 popular smartphones both in retail networks and on the Internet,' Maria Zaikina from Svyaznoy told.

Nevertheless, analysts around the world note low sales of Windows Phone. As Gartner demonstrated, supply of smartphones in the first quarter in 2016 grew by almost 4%, while their market share slumped to 0,7%. 2,4m Windows phones were sold during the first three months. For comparison, in the first quarter of 2015 their share was 2,5% (8,6m). At the same time the share of Android-powered smartphones increased from 78,8 to 84,1% in the first quarter, and sales of iOS reduced to 14,8%.

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

Source: Gartner