South African carrier Vodacom has published their regular smartphone ownership stats for their network, and it reads as good news for Windows Phone.
The OS is making steady progress there, increasing by 35,000 users in the last 3 months, and 140,000 over the last 9 months.
| Mobile devices by type | ||||
| Device | September 2013 | March 2014 | June 2014 | 3 month change |
| BlackBerry | 3,100,000 | 3,030,000 | 2,895,000 | -135,000 |
| Android smartphones and tablets | 1,450,000 | 2,190,000 | 2,560,000 | 370,000 |
| Apple smartphones and tablets | 650,000 | 785,000 | 775,000 | -10,000 |
| Windows | 270,000 | 375,000 | 410,000 | 35,000 |
Of course its growth is not as explosive as Android, which added 10 times more users, but reads as much better than Blackberry, which lost 135,000 users in the last 3 months, and iOS, which is down 10,000 users.
Vodacom CEO Shameel Joosub said the number of active smartphones and tablets on their South African network increased 19.3% to 8 million devices, giving Windows Phone around 5% ownership share.
The lull in Windows Phone growth is likely due to the lack of new products over the last quarter, and hopefully the launch of the Nokia Lumia 630 and 930 will help boost growth to a higher rate once again.
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