Windows Phone gains ground in first months of 2013, report says

Microsoft’s mobile platform has gotten off to a good start in early 2013 -- and that’s no April Fools’ joke.

Windows Phone 8, led by the Nokia Lumia 920, had the third-highest market share for smartphones sold in the U.S. during December through the end of February. Still, the platform got only a small slice of the market -- 4.7%, according to Kantar Worldpanel, an analytics company.

It was 1.4% more than during the same period a year ago, and it knocked BlackBerry to fourth place. BlackBerry fell from 3.6% of the market a year ago to 0.7% in the latest period.

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These numbers don’t take into account the BlackBerry Z10, which began selling in the U.S. late last month and in other parts of the world in January. BlackBerry, formerly known as Research in Motion, is hoping the Z10 and the new BlackBerry 10 operating system can help it regain momentum in the U.S.

However, Windows Phone 8’s market share still pales in comparison with that of Google’s Android platform and Apple iOS.

Android increased market share during the period from 45.4% one year ago to 51.2% in the last period. Android sales were led by Samsung, which managed to take customers from all of its rivals, according to Kantar.

Apple, on the other hand, saw a drop in market share compared with one year ago. The Cupertino, Calif., tech company held 43.5% of the market, compared with 47% a year ago.

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