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Did the Windows Phone 7 Bomb In the US?

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the now-wait-a-minute dept.

Thorfinn.au writes "Microsoft's new smartphone platform is off to what could be considered a slower start than expected in North America. That's according to The Street, which has released a report saying that the company sold some 40,000 units on its first day on the market. Early sales numbers from other phone platform launches include Apple's estimated 500,000 iPhones being snatched up during its launch weekend in 2007, and a million and a half G1 Android phones being bought up by T-Mobile subscribers in the phone's first six months." Do you know anyone with one of these phones? Me either.

6 of 609 comments (clear)

  1. While I agree it's not as good as... by Pojut · · Score: 5, Insightful

    While I agree it's not as good as Microsoft probably hoped for, I'd like to point out that comparing it's sales to the iPhone (who was, for all intents and purposes, the first of its kind to go critical) and Android (the first solid competitor to the first smartphone to really go critical) isn't exactly fair.

    If anything, I'd say that 40,000 for the first day in an already crowded market isn't bad. Not great, but not bad.

    --
    Living With a Nerd
    1. Re:While I agree it's not as good as... by wvmarle · · Score: 5, Insightful

      No matter how you look at it 40,000 is still 40,000. That's a significant number of phones. The iPhone and Google's phones were hyped badly before launch; highly anticipated; no wonder they sold well.

      More fair would be to compare it to say a new Nokia or Sony Ericsson top-line model. I bet those companies would be quite happy to sell that number in the first day of sales. A not hyped, "yet another" kind of phone, that's what this is and that's what it should be compared to.

      But of course Apple's iPhone is the de-facto reference smartphone these days. No matter what you do, release a smartphone and it'll be compared to the iPhone first.

    2. Re:While I agree it's not as good as... by dc29A · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The iPhone and Google's phones were hyped badly before launch; highly anticipated; no wonder they sold well.

      Exactly. There was no hype at all around Windows Phone 7. None. Nada. Zilch. That explains all those TV commercials, launch parties, paid shills like Paul Thurrott and Co. touting Windows 7 Phone as the second coming of Zeus.

  2. Far too early to say by MrHanky · · Score: 5, Insightful

    At this moment, declaring Windows Phone 7 a flop is just FUD.

  3. Wait, we're comparing one *day* to six months? by JSBiff · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Another fabulous slashdot article summary - comparing the sales on the first day of the WP7 phone with 6 months of sales for the G1? Seriously? I'm no Microsoft fanboy (I've got a G1 sitting on my desk 8 inches from me right now), but c'mon. It would be much more interesting to know how many G1's were sold the first day, the first week, and the first month, and compare that to WP7.

  4. Re:If You're Late to the Party by WrongSizeGlass · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You better bring something that no one else has.

    Exactly. You can't release a new phone that lacks device encryption for secure Exchange connections, static IP for WiFi, multitasking, cut and paste, and Flash support in the current market. Two or three years ago? Sure. But not now.