iOS and Android may be leading the way in app activity, but Microsoft and RIM are battling for third place. Microsoft is expected to take the third spot just before the end of 2012, displacing RIM, according to released projections.

StatCounter released data revealing that the 47th week of 2012 may be when Windows Phone begins to claim third spot. By week 49 of 2012, approximately the week of Dec. 24, it could be ahead.

The end of the year may see new Windows Phone 8-enabled devices, while RIM is releasing BlackBerry 10 in 2013. Therefore, Microsoft's mobile operating system will probably see additional users.

On the other hand, RIM's failure to introduce compelling touch-enabled devices to compete with the aforementioned leaders means that many users have moved away. Talk surfaced of Microsoft buying RIM as the BlackBerry maker's phone business continues to decline, even in the enterprise sector. RIM halved its market share throughout 2012 so far, from 6 to 3 percent. Windows Phone is at around 1.5 percent.

Services like BlackBerry Messenger (BBM), long seen as a killer app for RIM and BlackBerry, have lost their edge due to apps like WhatsApp and iOS iMessage. iMessage allows cross-iOS devices messaging, simulating the IM-esque service BBM provides.

Windows Phone's growth is slow, though the launch of Windows 8 on October 26 could begin to accelerate app development. Microsoft introduces the functionality for developers to build Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8 apps simultaneously, and given the similar Modern UI interface, app development should not be an issue. This is similar to how Apple allows developers to build universal apps to work across iPhones/iPod Touches and iPads, not requiring separate downloads or purchases.

App store submissions per day clocked at at over 180 for Windows Phone, dwarfed by iOS' and Google Play's (the Android app store's) over 700 and 600 respectively. Though iOS and Android have existed for 4 years, while Windows Phone launched in 2010.