Microsoft's most disappointing business is succeeding in one unexpected market

Research firm Kantar has published a report detailing the highs and lows of Windows Phone market share around the world.

According to the report, the only significant market where Windows Phone is not in decline is the UK. The company grew its share to around 10% of the market in the holiday quarter, up from 7.5% the previous year.

The story in every other market is more bleak, however, with declines anywhere between 2.9% in France to 4.6% in Italy to a more modest 1.8% decline in Europe as a whole.

Business Insider reached out to Kantar to ask about the success in the United Kingdom. According to Carolina Milanesi, the firm's chief of research, the low-cost Lumia 535 "sold well in the UK."

Here is a country by country breakdown:

Windows Phone, now called Windows 10 Mobile, has been a consistent sales flop, reaching around 1.7% share of the market in total.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella downplayed the issue of market share, arguing that Windows as a whole - i.e. desktop, Xbox, mobile, and so on - was more important than one single operating system, but the lack of success is likely not what Microsoft wanted.

Microsoft is rumoured to be working on a "Surface Phone," which would adopt the design ideas of the Surface tablet range. The Lumia brand, which the company acquired from Nokia, would therefore be ended.