The good news for Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 is that a new survey indicates the platform has stabilized its U.S. market share. The bad news: It's about 5.8 percent.

A new survey from comScore shows Microsoft in fourth place, way behind market leaders Google, Apple and Research In Motion. In recent quarters, Microsoft had seen a steady erosion of its share of the mobile market, a slide that Phone 7 was intended to counter.

Second Place by 2015?

In the most recent comScore, Google's Android platform was 43.7 percent in the three-month period ending in August, an increase of 5.6 percent from the previous period ending in May. Apple's iOS stayed virtually the same, at 27.3 percent vs. 26.6 percent in the earlier survey. RIM's BlackBerry and QNX operating systems dropped five points, to 19.7 percent. Symbian was in last place among the top five, dropping one-third point to 1.8 percent.

Microsoft could experience some growth in the next survey, following its release of the version 7.5 upgrade to Windows Phone 7 last month. The new version, also known as Mango, offers more than 500 new features, including ones that will appeal to businesses.

Industry research firm IDC has been bullish on Phone 7, predicting that Microsoft's struggling market position will turn into second-place worldwide by 2015, behind Android and ahead of Apple's iOS. Several developments could help make that prediction come true.

Space in the market will soon be opening up. Symbian will continue to decline, as Windows Phone 7 takes the place of that venerable operating system on Nokia phones. The Finnish phone manufacturer expects to launch Windows Phone 7 models by the end of this month.

'Digging Their Heels In'

RIM is continuing to decline. The Waterloo, Ontario-based company, once a dominant player in mobile phones for businesses, has seen its position...

2011-10-07 04:14:03