Windows Phone 7 sales "catastrophic" at 674,000?
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Windows Phone 7 sales are an elusive topic ever since the launch of the platform back in November 2010. Even after Microsoft announced its quarterly financial results, it remained tight-lipped about the actual sales of WP7 phones, but could the company have stumbled more than expected? According to Russian tech analyst Eldar Murtazin that's exactly the case as he estimates Windows Phone 7 sales at the disappointing 674,000 units. Murtazin doesn't specify the period, but by all visible clues he refers to data for 2010.
The analyst doesn't provide any details about the basis of his calculations, so take this with a grain of salt and more as an approximation as none of the phone makers or carriers has given an exact sales figure. But Murtazin does mention that unofficial data he got from carriers and retail chains is “catastrophic.” To put it all in context, Redmond has announced that carriers have shipped some 1.5 million WP7 smartphones to the market, but actual sales to the end-user haven't reached even a half of that number. And the gap between shipped and sold units has continued to widen in Q1 2011.
The analyst summarizes sales harshly as an expected absolute failure, laying the blame on Microsoft's strategy to try to compete in the already crowded high-end segment where iOS and Android have proven their maturity, while WP7 has been lacking basic features up until recently. What is your opinion on Redmond's WP7 platform? Don't hesitate to share your thoughts in the comments below!
source: Mobile-Review (translated)
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59 Comments
1. Androider (unregistered) posted on 03 May 2011, 02:49 10 1
This doesn't mean anything since the OS was launched approx. half a year ago. What is important is that Microsoft, and several handset makers are devoted to it.
I personally do think that there is a place for WP7, and I am seriously considering buying one to replace my Android (a Nokia, if it delivers something really cool).
18. remixfa posted on 03 May 2011, 07:13 7 0
You might not remember but the G1 barely sold a million units world wide. Is android a failure? Nope.. its now number 1, three whole years later.
Microsoft took a slow n steady start on purpose to make sure they didnt end up with crap like windows 6. Between the nokia partnership and the recent announcement of a tool to convert iOS programs to WP7 i say they are on the verge of a major increase in sales.
And so does every analyst out there.
32. mariusym (unregistered) posted on 03 May 2011, 11:13 3 4
what kind of an idiot compares the sales 1 model of a phone =G1
to about five from different manufacturers, which also has the microsoft experience behind them
and what kind of idiots rank him high
29. snowgator posted on 03 May 2011, 10:31 1 0
I guess you can say Windows 7 is only a year and a half old, but Microsoft has been in the OS market for years with the Windows Mobile, like on the HTC tilt and such devices. W7 was the improved version of that, correcting it's mistakes. I have played with both the HTC Surround and LG Quantum, and it is a good OS. I thought it was a well thought out, easy to personalize system. It did launch without a lot of Apps or competitive extras though, and some of the limitations, like not all the screens working in landscape, were drawbacks. There is very little reason at this point to pick it over Android or iOS. Hopefully, the efforts with Nokia will be the best of both worlds.
45. cheetah2k posted on 03 May 2011, 21:31 2 0
Balmer.. You're doing it wrong!
This just proves that Microsoft needs Nokia, more than Nokia needs Microsoft...
46. Lucas777 posted on 03 May 2011, 22:34 1 1
no... not true at all... they both need each other to profit... microsot will always have windows and pc software while nokia will always have the cheap overseas cell phones they all buy
48. NeXoS posted on 04 May 2011, 01:10 1 2
Nokia is shooting themselves in the foot by going with W7. They would do so much better with Android. They will learn a hard lesson and probably have to declare bankruptcy.
Look at HTC as a prime example. It wasn't the sales of their Windows Mobile phones that turned them into a multi-billion dollar high end phone maker.
If Android could do that to a small company like HTC, imagine what it could do to Nokia. But, the cronyism between MS and Nokia will result in Nokia's demise. Start buying lots of Nokia puts, you'll be rich.
56. Lucas777 posted on 04 May 2011, 17:14 2 0
not true at all... nokia has a chance wiht wp7 cause it is a whole different thing... and honestl windows 6.5 sucked... wp7 is different...
it will be htc's android
57. fox (unregistered) posted on 04 May 2011, 21:02 0 0
your an idiot naxos, windows made htc in the company that it is and if you look at all the windows phone 7 sales htc rules the market, dont make dumb and make statements like that.
htc was well know for its windows mobile phones and its re-writable rom set, and FYI HTC is far from being small they're call High Tech Computers for a reason, the only thing that is small is your IQ low.
The only reason for WP7 not hitting numbers in the US is cause everyone is on a contact where you can only get a windows phone on a contact. windows phone is a hugh saler over sea cause no one is on a contact so there for nokia made the best choice cause they can rule the over sea market high end and low end phones so put that in your pipe and smoke it
2. Sniggly posted on 03 May 2011, 02:49 2 0
It wouldn't surprise me. Phone 7 is an interface completely unlike any other, and when looking at it one may be confused. Haven't ever really gotten to try it myself, it sounded cool, but the hardware also wasn't there.
35. pyckvi posted on 03 May 2011, 15:38 1 0
actually the OS is very simplistic. its actually easier to navigate through than the IOS.
I also believe that once Nokia starts to bring out there WP7 Phones they will put in many of there own optimizations, just like they recently stated. out of all the phone company's they have the most patents laying around and im sure they will put them to good use with the WP7 devices :-)
i cant wait!!!
47. Lucas777 posted on 03 May 2011, 22:36 0 0
The os is simplistic, but it is not as simple as ios... u have to go thrugh more menus and it is a bit more complex in some areas... it sure does look nice though... but it feels like a beta... they need to fix a ton of sttuff
3. Another Androider (unregistered) posted on 03 May 2011, 02:58 1 0
I think WP7 is quite good of a platform, remember that IOS an Android had problems too in the start, not to mention that it's not easy to grab a bigger share in the smartphone market right now, where these two major platforms dominate.
I assume that WP7 sales will grow, when they will do a major update and make more language packs for the system. In my country the problem is that the OS doesn't have the language of the homeland, carriers cannot sell the devices like that, and prices are getting smaller and smaller by time passes, which is not a bad thing if they will make the language update in late summer, as promised.
4. daniel_bargs posted on 03 May 2011, 02:58 6 1
i have not been wrong with my predictions... first of all, why would they release WP7 when android and iOS are far more better? they released WP7 without multitasking, no apps, too expensive, no copy-paste, no twitter-integration and once again, TOO EXPENSIVE. it's like they rushed to release the WP7 just to say "oh we have our own OS and were proud to present it to you."
i like WP7 but i dont think its worth the buy as of now. and a 3rd world country citizen like me wont even dare buy such a gem. fail.
5. gregory (unregistered) posted on 03 May 2011, 03:06 2 0
Martuzin is an analyst? This is a joke? bode...
6. Merio (unregistered) posted on 03 May 2011, 03:14 6 0
WP7 needs better hardware... I really envy all the sexy Android phones.
36. pyckvi posted on 03 May 2011, 15:44 1 0
i would love too see better hardware too but the only reason why android phones pack such high specs and keep a low price is because its a FREE OS that the carriers get from Google. unlike WP7, each carrier has to purchase the OS for each phone first
7. butthed (unregistered) posted on 03 May 2011, 03:47 0 2
if they want to increase sales, price them reasonably without contract to entice people with android and iphone
8. saints5354 (unregistered) posted on 03 May 2011, 04:11 2 0
WP7 is nice but still lack of many basic features as "daniel_bargs" commented. There is no news regarding video call as well ... so MS should work on all these ASAP in order to complete some share of the mobile phone market ...
9. NiteRyda (unregistered) posted on 03 May 2011, 04:13 1 0
The real problem with wp7 is the fact that they decided to not let their major manufacturer HTC put a custom UI over it, which made the previous versions of winmo very attractive and user friendly. Also microsoft played around to much delaying the launch of something new, they took like a year to even launch a wp7 series device to begin with. You can't compete if you fall to far behind the competition. Plus most devices are coming out with larger displays and wp7 has smaller ones that you want on a feature phone not a smartphone. So get with it microsoft, you need larger displays, more apps, more basic features included, manufacturer custom UI's and you might break a million handsets.
