I Googled stats to verify this claim and you're right. Last fall, Windows Phone was on par with iPhone sales in some European countries, and in fact beat Apple in Italy (TIL)
The two things are inseparable at this point. So I don't really understand the distinction you're making, it isn't as if people buying a Lumia don't know it will be running Windows Mobile.
No, I would bet most people buy them because it's a Nokia, regardless of the OS. Case in point, my mother who seems to only buy Nokias because they used to be the best brand. I told her to buy an Android phone and she somehow found and bought a Nokia Android phone (I didn't even know they existed). It had some weird Metro skin too so that it looks like a Windows Phone but is actually an Android.
> "I told her to buy an Android phone and she somehow found and bought a Nokia Android phone (I didn't even know they existed). It had some weird Metro skin too so that it looks like a Windows Phone but is actually an Android."
I think you're referring to one of the Nokia X devices:
Maybe in some (northern) parts that still remember the Nokia brand. Otherwise, Android and iOS are the really big players, with Android being number one in Europe followed by a strong iOS. WinPhone, Blackberry, FirefoxOS, JellyOS, etc. are of little interest for the average joe buyer.
I'm getting downvoted? Sounds like a bad thing but I'm not concerned. I'm a Hacker News reader and hardly ever write comments. I'll be fine. Thanks for the heads up...
http://techcrunch.com/2014/10/29/kantar-september-2014/
Though it sounds like some of those fortunes are turning since the iPhone 6
http://appleinsider.com/articles/15/05/06/iphone-marketshare...