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Russian tech blogger Murtazin pegs Windows Phone 7 sales at 674,000 in 2010

Brands platform 'absolute failure'

Russian tech blogger Murtazin pegs Windows Phone 7 sales at 674,000 in 2010
While the strong performance of both Xbox 360 and Kinect dominated press attention when Microsoft announced its financial results for Q1 2011, the lack of any Windows Phone 7 sales figures raised eyebrows.

Until now, the most recent estimates had suggested worldwide handset sales may well have surpassed 4.35 million in mid-March.

However, according to Russian tech blogger Eldar Murtazin, the platform is selling at a much lower rate than that.

In fact, Murtazin claims Microsoft is resigned to the fact the platform is an 'absolute failure', pegging its sales at 674,000 units in total.

Fact or fiction?

Speaking in Russian on his own blog Mobile-Review.com, Murtazin admits the figure is an estimate and claims it purposely doesn't count phones handed out to Microsoft employees.

However, just which period Murtazin's figure relates to is unclear, and all the more crucial.

While much of the wider press is reporting it as an up to date number, Murtazin himself claims it's an estimate sourced from the 1.5 million units Microsoft claimed to have shipped in the platform's first six weeks.

That would mean Microsoft was selling around 450,000 units a month, suggesting sales would have hit the 2.7 million mark before the end of April using Murtazin's methodology.

An issue of trust

Murtazin's track record is itself littered with hits and misses.

At the start of 2010, he rightly reported back at the start of 2010 that the platform would bear no relation to its predecessor Windows Mobile, and would instead attempt to link up with Microsoft's iTunes rival Zune.

However, he also made headlines just months earlier when he dismissed Nexus One as a "fake", suggesting it was nothing more than the result of a rumour started by rival Apple.

[source: Pocketnow.com]

With a fine eye for detail, Keith Andrew is fuelled by strong coffee, Kylie Minogue and the shapely curve of a san serif font.