#6 Microsoft Buys Nokia

All the major mobile segment companies except Microsoft had their own phone. Google bought Motorola and Apple had the iPhone and Microsoft desperately needed one to increase their dominance or lack thereof in the mobile market. This time, fortunately they did not do the same mistake they did with the Surface tablets by creating their own Windows Phone compatible hardware, instead they opted to buy Nokia, which was already a leading Windows Phone maker and its closest partner. This was a smart move as Microsoft really couldn’t afford another major product failure.

#7 Windows Phone Goes Big

Earlier this year, there seemed to be a standoff between Microsoft and BlackBerry for a third place in the mobile ecosystems war. It is now clear that Microsoft emerged a winner from that battle and took the third spot after Android and iOS, thanks to its fast growing market share in most regions. Windows has upped its game and is now going head-to-head with Android in the Phablets market segment with its latest update. Phablets are big screen devices and fall in-between tablets and phones in regard to its size; these seem to be hugely popular in China and India. Windows Phone now has Lumia 1520 and Lumia 1320 to please these growing markets.