Steve Ballmer is one of those guys who just can't hide a mood. Probably a terrible poker player. Which is why-- when Microsoft is crowing about Kinect sales-- that the refusal to provide Windows Phone 7 sales figures is damning.
UK store deal aggregator MobilesPlease says Phone 7 has accounted for just 3% of their smartphone sales, with Android outselling WP7 handsets 15:1. With 800,000 visitors to their sites, you have to take this report seriously.
The site says Symbian devices outsold Windows Phone 7 handsets by 3:1, with one device (Nokia N8) outselling all WP7 devices from a variety of manufacturers.
They even questioned one Carphone Warehouse store who claimed no Windows Phone 7 devices were on the sales floor. That's 0 for sale, that's nada to the cash register. Although the store did volunteer they “might have one in the back.” They probaly would have Palm PDAs back in storage if thet went looking....
That report makes sense as Carphone Warehouse corporate just announced they believe Android will be their best seller in their 2000+ European stores in this all-important Q4. That drops Nokia down a peg after decade of sales leadership.
CPW has the exclusive contract to sell the newest Google-branded phone, the Nexus S, which will go on sale this month with Android 2.3 software, the "Gingerbread".
Meanwhile, retailers and operators report Microsoft's Phone 7 phones, released in October, have seen disappointing sales due to product shortages, consumer confusion and (in UK) rivalry between networks over co-branding with Orange.
CPW chief commercial officer, Graham Stapleton says, "Customers tell us that being able to have a choice, being able to personalise their choice of phone is a key difference about Android compared to some of the other platforms out there."
Microsoft's relaunch of its mobile offering through the Windows Phone 7 devices is off to a slow start. Stapleton says sales "haven't yet met expectations." He actually hopes the platform would grow in popularity. "It would be healthy for customers if Microsoft were here, too."
Better hang up now. Ballmer is not going to be pleased.