Nokia's current flagship phone, the Lumia 900, won't be upgradeable to Microsoft's new Windows Phone 8 platform, leading some to expect Nokia's troubles will grow even more.
Microsoft on Wednesday took the wraps off of Windows Phone 8, set to launch this fall alongside Windows 8 for PCs and the new Surface tablet, featuring e-wallet support with NFC chips, as well as support for high-definition screens.
Riding a wave of momentum generated by the Surface tablet unveiling on Monday, Microsoft will be outlining plans for Windows Phone 8 on Wednesday as part of the company's push to take on Apple and Google in the mobile market.
Once a dominant force in smartphones, struggling Nokia will ax 10,000 jobs by the end of 2013 in an effort to cut costs and turn the company around.
Market analysts at IDC estimate that the share of handsets running Microsoft's Windows Phone will grow to take nearly 20 percent of the market by 2016 at the expense of Apple's iOS and Google's Android.
Apple continues to gain share in the worldwide smartphone market, as the latest data shows the iOS mobile operating system accounted for nearly a quarter of all smartphones shipped in the first quarter of 2012.
Though it only sells smartphones, Apple represents nearly 8 percent of all worldwide mobile phone sales, making it the third-largest handset maker.
When asked to find the "best smartphone ever," the Siri personal assistant software on the iPhone 4S will tell users to check out the competing Lumia 900 smartphone made by Nokia.
A new analysis claims the iPhone made up 30.7 percent of the U.S. smartphone market and 14 percent of the mobile market in the first quarter of 2012.
Nokia on Wednesday issued a warning to investors that it was lowering its outlook for the first half of 2012 after the first quarter of the year proved "disappointing."
Apple's Online Store was down on Tuesday night and the company took the opportunity to roll out a new "We'll be back" sign. Also, Nokia is now offering a $100 credit on its $99 Lumia 900 flagship smartphone after a software bug affecting data connections was discovered.
Apple's iOS and Google's Android mobile platforms continued to grow over the last three months, accounting for 80.3 percent of the U.S. smartphone market.
As of February, smartphone users accounted for nearly half of all wireless subscribers in the U.S., and Apple's iPhone adoption rate saw growth while Android handset activations slipped.
The battle for smartphone operating system supremacy is quickly becoming a two-horse race, as the latest data from comScore shows that only Apple and Google were able to grow their market share in the U.S. through January.
Apple was not only the largest seller of smartphones worldwide in 2011, taking 19 percent of all sales, but also overtook LG to become the No. 3 largest global mobile phone vendor, according to Gartner.
Microsoft's upcoming Windows Phone 8, expected in the second half of the year, will seek to address its "perceived inability to compete" with Apple's iPhone and Google's Android according to a report detailing its planned enhancements.
Nokia chairman Jorma Ollila warned on Wednesday that the handset maker's transition to Microsoft's Windows Phone mobile operating system will be felt in its earnings for the majority of 2012.
The launch of the iPhone 4S last October had an "enormous impact" on the U.S. smartphone landscape, boosting Apple's share among new buyers by almost 20 percent and putting it neck-and-neck with Android in December.
A new survey has found Apple has "explosive momentum" at the beginning of 2012, with more than half of people who plan to buy a smartphone in the next 90 days choosing Apple's iPhone.
Microsoft's head of software design for Windows Phone has admitted that the company completely redesigned its mobile operating system platform as a response to Apple's iPhone and the "sea change" it created in the industry.
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Sam Oliver
AppleInsider Staff
Mikey Campbell
Katie Marsal
Neil Hughes
Josh Ong
Daniel Eran Dilger
