Cheaper smartphones boost Sony, Microsoft in Europe

 Sony has dropped prices a lot over the last six months, noting that the average retail price of a Sony smartphone is less than half that of market leader Samsung Electronics.

 Cheaper models such as Nokia's Lumia 610 meanwhile helped Microsoft's Windows Phone platform to gain traction in the smartphone operating system (OS) market.

  Google's Android is the leading platform in key European markets, where it controls shares ranging from 59 percent of the market in Italy to 84 percent in Spain.