14 DAY TRIAL // This is the total number of devices that Microsoft partners managed to sell since the official release of the first Windows Phone 7 handsets on shelves: over 1.5 million.
Achim Berg, Microsoft’s vice president of business and marketing for Windows Phones, was the one to break the figure down.
This is the first time the Redmond-based software giant actually comes up with a specific sales figure for the newly released Windows Phone 7 operating system.
Previous rumors on this suggested that the platform was up for a very low start, but it seems that Microsoft is actually pretty happy with the way things are evolving at the moment.
“Sales are ramping well as our reputation is growing for offering users a unique experience and are in line with our expectations – especially when compared to other new platform introductions,” Berg states.
“With a new platform you have to look at a couple of things, first of all customer satisfaction. As I mentioned before, we’ve seen great response on the complete mobile phone experience.
“Another is phone manufacturer sales – phones being bought and stocked by mobile operators and retailers on their way to customers. We are pleased that phone manufacturers sold over 1.5 million phones in the first six weeks, which helps build customer momentum and retail presence.”
Indeed, other mobile operating systems might have not enjoyed similar levels of sales during the first few weeks of availability, but not many of them enjoyed such an extensive number of devices being released at once as Windows Phone 7, which had 9 handsets unveiled back in October.
“We know we have tough competition, and this is a completely new product. We’re in the race – it’s not a sprint but we are certainly gaining momentum and we’re in it for the long run,” Berg continues.
With Windows Mobile, the previous version of Windows Phone, already out from the mobile landscape, though it saw a major update about a year ago, it would make sense for the company to focus all of its resources towards turning Windows Phone 7 into a winner.
With a great application development environment already established, and with over 18,000 developers registering their interest on the platform, it seems that things are ramping up pretty nice for the new mobile OS.
A recent analyst estimate points at the possibility that the Windows Phone Marketplace would become one of the largest software portals in the world next year, based on the fact that it grew from under 1,000 apps at launch to over 4,000 in only six weeks.
The Marketplace might not be the only one poised for growth next year, Berg notes. According to him, the upcoming availability of Windows Phone 7 devices via more wireless carriers around the world, and in more markets should translate in a surge in sales.
“Yes, and I think our expectations are realistic for a new platform. We started fresh with Windows Phone 7, and it’s a different kind of phone. Measuring for success is more long term than short term. We launched with many of the top mobile operators in the world, and even more in the coming year in 2011,” he stated.
Undoubtedly, a long road lies ahead for Microsoft and the Windows Phone 7 platform, but the amount of resources that Microsoft invested in its new OS should pay off in the end, especially with those promised updates set to expand the functionality of handsets even more.