Numbers released by Microsoft suggest Windows Phone may have edged ahead of iPhone in China.

According to figures cited by Microsoft's COO for China Michel van der Bel, Windows Phone now boasts a 7 percent smartphone share in the region.

That's a figure Microsoft believes would put the platform narrowly ahead of iPhone on a 6 percent hand in the market.

The one and only

Though just one region – Windows Phone lagging behind iOS by quite a margin in both the US and Europe according to most indicators – such a turnaround would be quite an achievement for Microsoft, owing to China's increasing importance in the smartphone race.

"We've only just begun," said van der Bel, with Windows Phone having only made its debut in China two months ago.

Both Microsoft and Apple remain relatively small players in the region compared to Android, however. Recent estimates suggest Google's platform holds almost 70 percent of the Chinese smartphone market.

Microsoft and Nokia alike plan to eat into Android's share with cheap handsets to appeal to the low-end of the market, however – a particular battle Apple's comparatively expensive iPhone cannot partake in.

[source: CNET]