Microsoft is out with the first sales figures for Windows phone 7 and the results will surprise the skeptics (including me) that the sale is expected to be bleak.
Microsoft is finally ready to talk about numbers for its Windows 7 Phone platform.
The company just announced that more than 1.5 million phones were sold in the first six weeks, a solid development.
But the figures they have released needs a little more analysis than usual.
Achim Berg, Vise President of Business Development and Marketing for Windows Phones, says Microsoft News Centre site that mobile manufacturers sold more than 1.5 million phones in the first six weeks.
My colleague Mary Jo Foley has already picked up prominent figures that Microsoft wants to look at the headlines: More than 1.5 million Windows Phone 7s sold to date.
Berg also states that the sales figures met Microsoft's expectations, as you would expect him to say.
This figure comes from an interview with Achim Berg, Microsoft's vice president for business and marketing for Windows Phones, published on the Microsoft News Center.
Microsoft has until now refused to release sales figures.
Here's the quote: Sales are ramping and our reputation is growing to offer users a unique experience and is as per our expectations - especially compared with other new platform introductions.
Initial anecdotal reports indicated a slow turnover, and Microsoft's silence only added to the sense that the phone was launched went bad.
With a new platform you need to look at a few things, first of all customer satisfaction.
The 1.5 million number is not a blowout success, but it is far from a failure, especially with the phone so far is available in a limited number of carriers, and not on Verizon or Sprint.
As I mentioned earlier, we have seen good response to the complete mobile experience.
Windows 7 Phone sales are still dwarfed by both Android and iPhone phones, of course.
Another is the phone manufacturer sales - phones are bought and filled with mobile operators and retailers on the way to customers.
Google says that about 300,000 Android devices are turned daily, for example.
We are delighted that mobile manufacturers sold more than 1.5 million phones in the first six weeks, which helps to build customer momentum and retail presence.
But it is to expect that the revamped Microsoft mobile platform would not immediately challenge either Android or iPhone.
Had this interview been conducted by an actual journalist, you might have seen a follow-up question here: How many of these phones have been activated by the customers? That is the real metric for market share from Google, for instance, now claims that it is enable 300,000 new Android devices a day, and that is to say that Microsoft is not sharing that number.
I have often said that Windows 7 Phone sales were tanking, and if Microsoft's sales figures are accurate, I was clearly wrong.
If these phones do not fly out of stores, so it could be a classic case of channel stuffing.
The respectable sales figures show that Microsoft may be able to regain a foothold in the mobile market, which is crucial for the company's future.
And that directly compares the Windows 7 Phone sales for the original iPhone is not so easy.
Mobile is where the growth is, and without being a player in the mobile market, Microsoft will be relegated to a slow-growth company.
Because Apple sold the first iPhone model directly to their customers, they did not have to worry about his channel.
I do not expect Windows Phone to challenge for supremacy Android or iPhone for second place.
Yet it is worth noting that it took 74 days for the original iPhone to hit 1 million units sold, back in 2007.
These sales figures, as solid as they are, do not indicate that Windows 7 Phone has caught fire in any way.
Still, I do not want to dismiss the numbers entirely, because they do represent a serious commitment on the part of carriers to buy and make and sell the phones.
But they show that Microsoft is clearly in mobile in the long term, and will be a competitor.
And a key part of Microsoft's strategy is to get these devices out into the world so that potential customers can try them out.
And competition is good for consumers, and the overall industry.
As Berg notes: We introduced a new platform with Windows 7 Phone, and when you do that it takes time to educate partners and consumers on what you deliver, and to create awareness and interest in the new offering.
So for anyone who cares about the future of mobile technology, sales figures are welcome news.
We're comfortable with where we are, and we are here for the long run; Phone Windows 7 is just the beginning.
Our opportunity is to make sure people get to play with a Windows phone.
Ultimately, Microsoft wants this storey to be about momentum.
Developers are building apps for the new platform, customers who try it love it, and-most importantly-it has a future.
Berg uses the long-term sentence twice in this press release: We know we have tough competition, and this is a completely new product.
We are in the race - it's not a sprint, but we are definitely gaining momentum and we are in it for the long run.
Indeed, the 1.5 million number of almost significant as an expression of trust with carriers around the world.
But we will not be able to judge whether that momentum has reached takeoff speed before Microsoft starts talking about activations.
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