Nokia now accounts for just shy of 90% of the Windows Phone 8 universe

It's time for yet another Windows Phone stats report from AdDuplex, and this time around we have a few headline-worthy notes to make. First and foremost, as you must have already gleaned from the title, Nokia's horde of WP 8 devices now accounts for a whopping 89.2%, just shy of 90%. Not that we're putting your intelligence to question, but it may help to imagine that out of every 10 WP devices bought, 9 are of a Nokia make. If nothing else, this really puts Microsoft/Nokia deal into perspective.

Unfortunately for Nokia and the WP universe as a whole, however, it's the extremely budget-friendly Lumia 520 leading the charge now, accounting for 23.2% of the total WP market. The Lumia 920 and Lumia 620 share the second spot with 9.2% each, while the Lumia 1020 is nowhere to be seen, ranked #21 for the overall WP universe, and #14 in the Windows Phone 8 realm. In a nutshell, the stats indicate that WP remains a popular choice for those looking for value through affordable smartphones, a niche that is definitely still undeserved, but that's probably for a good reason: the margins there are prohibitive.

In case you're wondering why it is that we're still not talking exclusively about WP 8, that's because, as the stats reaffirm, plenty of people (29.1%) are still on the now slightly obsolete WP 7 platform. This, however, is different, say in the States, where only 17.3% of users are using the older platform. Speaking of the US, AT&T has overtaken Verizon Wireless as the most popular WP carrier, if just slightly, though its also worth noting that the challengers from T-Mobile and MetroPCS are stealing share from the big boys now. What's more, unlike most other markets, the US is actually one of the most premium markets for WP phones, with high-end models taking a significantly larger cut of the entire pie.

In conclusion, while this may appear like good news for Nokia, it really dawned on us just how alone Microsoft is in its own world. Having made our peace with the fact that Nokia will soon cease to exist in its iconic form, we've got to say that we're actually feeling excited about the prospect of what Microsoft could do now that it controls both the hardware and software side of the package, much akin to Apple and its iPhones.