Microsoft Still Cagey About Windows Phone 7 Sales Figures

Microsoft has confidence in Windows Phone 7’s long-term success, but it’s not quite ready to talk about the actual number of Windows phones in customers’ hands.

The company on Wednesday told Wired.com that by the end of 2010, it sold 2 million Windows Phone 7 licenses to manufacturers worldwide since the mobile platform’s November launch.

Microsoft declined to comment on the number of Windows Phone 7 phones sold to customers, claiming that such a figure would be a rough estimate because multiple manufacturers and carriers are selling the handset.

However, Google, too, works with multiple partners and has no problem bragging that approximately 200,000 Android phones are shipped each day.

LG, one of Microsoft’s manufacturer partners, has been vocal about early Windows Phone 7 sales falling short of expectations.

“?From an industry perspective we had a high expectation, but from a consumer point of view the visibility is less than we expected,? James Choi, marketing strategy and planning team director of LG told Pocket-lint.

Undisclosed sales numbers aside, Microsoft’s senior marketing manager Greg Sullivan said the company is optimistic about Windows Phone 7’s growth.

“We do know that obviously sales are an important measure of success, but for a new platform that’s becoming established, things like customer satisfaction and developer investment can be even more important leading indicators for long-term prospects of a platform,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan explained that 93 percent of customers reported in a survey that they were satisfied with their purchase, even after being aware of other options such as the iPhone and the crop of Android-powered handsets on the market.

He added that there are 6,500 apps in the Windows Phone 7 app store, and 24,000 developers registered to make apps for the platform.

Microsoft expects further growth for Windows Phone 7 with a major software update due “within in a couple of months,” bringing features such as copy and paste and performance improvements to the OS, according to Sullivan. Microsoft is also expected to announce Windows Phone 7 handsets on the Verizon and Sprint CDMA networks in the next few months, Sullivan said.

Photo: Mike Kane/Wired.com