Microsoft's Belfiore sees glass half full with sequential drop in Windows Phone sales

When Nokia announced that its Windows Phone sales amounted to only 8.2 million in Q4, well under the 10 million figure expected by Wall Street, it was a major disappointment for those who have been expecting big things from the platform. But Microsoft's Joe Belfiore would rather see the glass as being half full. Belfiore sent out a tweet saying that activations of Windows Phone handsets doubled in the quarter year over year, and during each month of the quarter.

But Belfiore's tweet doesn't even mention what is really bothering the analysts, which is that on a quarter to quarter basis, Windows Phone sales were declining. In other words, while the fourth quarter of 2013 looked good in comparison with the same quarter in 2012, activations actually declined when compared to the third quarter of 2013. And when you're looking for momentum, you expect to see solid gains sequentially.

Nokia's Lumia sales declined from 8.8 million in Q3 to 8.2 million in Q4. While Windows Phone continues to show improvement from the previous year, that momentum could be slowing based on Nokia's numbers and that would indeed be surprising.


source: @joebelfiore via WMPoweruser