Windows Phone 7 notches up day one sales of 40,000 in US

It's especially unlikely Microsoft still contending with the somewhat negative reputation Windows Mobile left in its wake ever considered launch sales of Windows Phone 7 would make headlines.

It's not surprising, therefore, that the giant is yet to release any official stats regarding the number of handsets sold to date.

Nonetheless, a report published by TheStreet puts Windows Phone 7's day one total in the US at 40,000 handsets sold.

Combined with the 89,000 handsets currently landing in the hands of Microsoft employees, that means the platform currently has a US userbase of around 129,000.

Predicted prudence

It's not exactly a stellar start, but analysts seem unmoved, suggesting the platform was always likely to be a grower rather than a shower - despite the reported $100 million Microsoft has spent on advertising.

"It's early in the game," Nielsen telecom analyst Roger Entner told the site.

"Not every product surges right out of the starting blocks. The first Android phone was not a big seller at T-Mobile. We'll see what happens with Black Friday (November 26) sales.

"They'll probably cut prices like everyone else does. It's the nature of the beast. The only one that doesn't do promotions is Apple."

Tale of two launches

Criticism has also been made regarding Microsoft's chosen launch day Monday 8 November with Friday or Saturday launches tending to galvanise higher sales.

Microsoft's strongest launch to date appears to have been in Germany, where reports suggest O2 had sold out of its initial allocation 80,000 HTC HD7s by the start of November.

Vodafone Germany also reported higher than expected pre-orders of the HTC Mozart and the Samsung Omnia 7.

[source: TheStreet]