Blogs: Windows Phone 8

Nokia may be bragging about its latest sales figures which show sales of the Windows Phone-based Lumia series increasing by 27 percent, but the truth is, with each passing month Windows Phone falls further and further behind iOS and Android. Increases of 27% and more only put Windows Phone deeper into its hole.

Windows Phone still hasn't managed the crack the enterprise, and has only a 7% share in new adoptions in corporations, according to a recent report by Citrix. That number hasn't budged since the last report, showing Microsoft still hasn't managed to figure out how get corporations to buy into the platform.

Microsoft, always looking for any way to tout good news about Windows Phone, claims that it outsells the iPhone in seven countries. But is that really the case? It's not as clear as it first appears.

Windows Phone is still struggling to gain serious market share, but there's evidence that two related strategies could bear fruit: Get manufacturers to release low cost smartphones, and convert Android users to Windows Phone 8.

Microsoft just got hit with a double-whammy: Reports show that Windows Phone market share is in the very low single digits in the U.S. and have declined since the release of Windows Phone 8, and Microsoft's tablet share is scraping the bottom. Will Microsoft eventually be forced to run up the white flag?

Among Windows Phone's many problems are that it doesn't have support among many phone manufacturers. But that appears to be changing, with LG and possibly Asus signing on to make Windows Phone 8 devices. This could be a sign the struggling smartphone operating system may evntually reach critical mass.

It's easy to count Microsoft's Windows Phone as a distant also-ran in the smartphone market, but there's some signs that it may finally be catching on. Nokia reports big sales for its Lumia line of Windows Phones, and Lenovo says that it may well launch a Windows Phone 8 line this year.

The Federal Trade Commission's slap on Google's wrist was wrong-headed, an abdication of responsibility, and will ultimately harm businesses and consumers -- so says Microsoft. In a blog posted shortly after the FTC decision, Microsoft takes the feds to task and warns that the decision will only embolden Google.

There's a new anti-trust bully on the block, and its name is Google. So claims Microsoft, charging that the search giant is using its might to impede competition, notably by blocking full access to YouTube by Windows Phone 8 devices.

It's getting to sound like a broken record: Two new reports find that Windows Phone 8 still isn't making headway, with a market share of between 2% and 3% in the U.S. and with only slightly higher numbers throughout the world. Will the struggling smartphone operating system ever take off?