Windows Phone 8 devices may have overtaken Windows Phone 7 in global market share

According to data collected by AdDuplex across the more than 700 mobile applications that employ its advertising service, Windows Phone 8 now exceeds Windows Phone 7 in global market share. It’s newly released June data is the first data point in which the new version of Windows Phone passed the former.

There is not an upgrade possible between Windows Phone 7 and 8, which means that all Windows Phone 8 handsets were purchased since its debut late last year. Therefore, Windows Phone 8 handset sales since October of 2012 now surpass Windows Phone 7 handsets still in use.

It didn’t take too long, for twin reasons: Windows Phone 8 is a better mobile operating system, and its sales have accelerated in response. Windows Phone as a platform took off to a slow start when it debuted. Its following iterations, 7.1, 7.5, and most recently 7.8, were all stopgaps towards a complete iteration of Microsoft’s vision, which in my view didn’t arrive until Windows Phone 8.

That was a quite long beta period, and sales were lackluster to match the incompleteness of the mobile OS.

What else is going on in the world of Windows Phone? The Lumia 521 and 928 are making appearances, perhaps indicating successful launches:

Globally, the Lumia 520 moved from 8th to 5th in terms of market share. That’s the largest gain that was recorded. It matters as it may indicate that lower-priced Windows Phone devices are indeed finding a niche in less developed countries.

AdDuplex recently raised $500,000 to expand its advertising platform for Windows Phone and Windows 8 applications.

Image credit: FRED DUFOUR / Getty Images