Microsoft's move for Finnish giant Nokia has split industry commentators right down the middle. Never have the differences between the smartphone market in the US and Europe been so stark.
A quick look at Millennial Media's US-focused Mobile Mix report helps explain why.
Monitoring use across the ad platform throughout Q2 2013, Millennial claims Nokia is the 8th largest mobile manufacturer in the region when ranked by impressions, with a 1.44 percent share.
That puts Nokia some distance behind Apple on a near 40 percent share, Samsung on over 26 percent, and even BlackBerry on just under 7 percent.
A game of two halves
Even more alarming for analysts is the fact that Nokia has not one handset in Millennial's rundown of the top 20 devices, again ranked by impressions.
To those in North America, this makes Microsoft's decision to pay out 5.44 billion for the device & services division of a company that barely has a presence in the Redmond giant's home territory somewhat puzzling.
Why would Microsoft want the 8th largest mobile manufacturer in the US?
Well, news that the Nokia-led Windows Phone is now enjoying record sales in overseas territories the OS accounting for around one in 10 smartphone sales in Britain, France, Germany and Mexico certainly helps put the acquisition in a more favourable context.
The suggestion that Lumia sales are helping Windows Phone outperform iPhone in Russia, Poland, Ukraine, South Africa and Argentina also helps balance the debate further.
[source: Millennial Media]
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With a fine eye for detail, Keith Andrew is fuelled by strong coffee, Kylie Minogue and the shapely curve of a san serif font.
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