The naysayers are off to the races as Microsoft releases Windows Phone 7 sales figures

Anyone could see this coming the moment Microsoft made any announcement revealing Windows Phone 7 sales numbers. The blogosphere has erupted in howls, downplaying the significance of the numbers with engadget leading the charge

1.5 million units is a tiny, tiny number when you consider the platform launched on 10 devices on over 60 carriers in over 30 countries

Just to be clear, the numbers reported consist of shipments to carriers and not actual activations, but if you even cut that number in half, 3/4 million users is not a shabby number for a modern OS that lacks copy and paste, multitasking and less than 5000 apps!

Contrast this to how most of the same sites gleefully reported, and continue to report the 40,000 sales number by thestreet.com, as a sign of doom for the OS. Come to think of it, how come nobody ever questions Android’s highly touted 300,000 daily activations? This means that every month, there are (300000*30) 9 million newly activated Android devices or 27 million every quarter. Is there any independent data source that corroborates this other than Google? Same can be said about the iPhone’s 230,000 daily activations.

With the expected updates next year and the expansion to Sprint and Verizon, the only way for WP7 is up. There seems to be a palpable fear as your read the articles and commentaries when it comes to the possibility of Windows Phone 7 succeeding. I still believe that Microsoft needs to staff carrier stores with their own knowledgeable personnel because it is the weakest link in WP7 adoption. There are way too many sales people vested in pushing Android and iPhones and MS needs to counter that as soon as possible.

Going forward, I think the WP7’s integrated, task based approach using live tiles(if they ever get their act together a deploy it widely to more apps) and hubs will attract more users than the in and out, app-centric approach found in other platforms. In fact, I think (just my opinion mind you),the iPhone’s and Android’s UX/UI will have to change in the coming years to mimic the WP7 experience or else they will loose users if the haven’t started to already. Only time will tell if this comes to pass but I think Microsoft is in a good spot.

Finally, Microsoft has an ace up their sleeve when it comes to the enterprise. Once they push the necessary Exchange, VPN, updates, to bring WP7 up to par with Windows Mobile capabilities, no other platform will be able to easily match the seamless integration. Add to the fact that most large companies use Microsoft software, the upcoming cloud based office 365 product, and Microsoft quietly trialing devices in businesses, the coming year will be interesting for sure. The Dell Venue Pro will most likely be the top enterprise choice as an alternative to Black Berries if we go by pocketnow.com impressions of the device.