Windows Phone 7 sales top 2 million
Microsoft says it has sold more than 2 million Windows Phone 7 devices to carriers and through retail channels.
Microsoft now says it's sold more than 2 million Windows Phone 7 devices since launch. That number represents handsets sold to mobile operators and retailers and not necessarily consumers.
The first initial report of Windows Phone 7 sales came from Microsoft in late December and topped 1.5 million units. Back then, Achim Berg, vice president of business and marketing for Windows Phone, said that number was "in line" with company expectations.
In a phone call with CNET, Greg Sullivan, senior product manager for Windows Phone 7, said while sales were certainly a measure of the platform's success, customer satisfaction and developer investment were more important leading indicators. And to that end, the company has been pleased.
"93 percent of Windows Phone customers are satisfied or very satisfied with Windows Phone 7, and 90 percent would recommend the phone to others," Sullivan said. Those numbers were based on a recent survey of Windows Phone 7 customers numbering in the hundreds.
Back at CES, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer had articulated that people "fell in love" with Windows Phone 7 once they saw the device, and that getting it into the hands of consumers would be "job number one." To that end, Sullivan said Microsoft is planning more marketing outreach.
"We're absolutely doing things to turn people onto this great thing, that those who have experienced it, love," he said. "You will see us continue to do some very visible things in terms of getting that word out, that--boy--once people use this phone, they fall in love with it very quickly."
As for why Microsoft doesn't have a more precise number on the actual number of handsets that have been sold to users, Sullivan noted that mobile operators were not contractually obligated to provide Microsoft with the activation numbers and the sell-through data. "We have a high degree of confidence in the precision of the sell-in numbers, which is why that's what we're providing," he explained.
Sullivan said there are now more than 6,500 apps in Microsoft's Marketplace application and the company currently has more than 24,000 registered developers. That's compared to the 5,500 apps and 20,000 developers announced at CES earlier this month.
Microsoft plans to release the first of two announced software updates to Windows Phone 7 devices in what Sullivan said would be within "the next few months." This first one will bring copy and paste functionality, along with better application loading performance and some bug fixes. The second update, planned for release in "the first half" of this year, will bring support for CDMA networks like Sprint and Verizon, where Windows phones are currently unavailable.