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You could call their bluff. Really, go ahead. Microsoft recently announced that they had shipped 2 million Windows Phone devices. 500,000 of those were shipped in December. That’s shipped as in “sent to retailers to be sold to people who want new phones.” Now, to be fair, merchandise sent to retailers count as sales. But this number, 2 million, does not represent the number of Windows7 phones in the hands of users right now.
Microsoft has said that, while individual sales are certainly a useful number, customer satisfaction and developer investment were more important leading indicators. "93 percent of Windows Phone customers are satisfied or very satisfied with Windows Phone 7, and 90 percent would recommend the phone to others," Greg Sullivan, Windows Phone 7 Senior Product Manager said. These figures were based on a recent survey of a couple hundred Windows Phone 7 customers.
Mr. Sullivan went on to point out that retailers aren’t contractually required to divulge sell through and activation numbers. "We have a high degree of confidence in the precision of the sell-in numbers, which is why that's what we're providing.”
In light of the fact that Android devices are activating 300,000 a day, is it time to call Microsoft’s effort “too little, too late,” or is this just a slow start to a successful future as a cellular OS competitor? Can Microsoft still provide a phone to "save us from our phones?" Check out the source links, then sound off in the comments section below.
Sources: Cnet, Computerworld
