We were all making fun of the initial sluggish pace of Microsoft’s new mobile phone platform, but it looks like it’s been picking up steam as the company now says it’s sold more than 2 million Windows Phone 7 phones.
Microsoft senior product manager Greg Sullivan told All Things Digital that sales have eclipsed the multi-million milestone, about a month after hitting the 1.5 million mark
When Windows Phone 7 launched last year, its first-week sales were so abysmal that some started dismissing the platform before it even got a chance to spread its wings. But it looks like it’s flying pretty steadily now.
And you know what I think it is? It’s because Microsoft shifted what it is saying about the platform.
Microsoft has honed its marketing message for the device, focusing more on its unique Xbox Live integration and gaming functionality and less on its ability to social network (because Android and iPhone do that just fine too).
One of the things I have been saying from day one of Windows Phone 7 is that Microsoft didn’t do enough to promote the platform’s gaming potential. The launch commercials said nothing about it, leaving it to look like little more than an Android wannabe.
The one aspect of WP7 that is truly unique and not available on any other operating system is in fact its connectivity to Xbox Live. That is the only differentiating factor, and Microsoft is now finally really pumping that up.
Microsoft began focusing on that in its recent ads, and guess what? Sales began to jump. In time, it can talk all about the other incremental upgrades over Android and the iPhone, but for now it needs to show what actually looks different. I have no doubt that in the boardroom meetings, all the Microsoft execs looked at their features and beamed about how different their social networking functionality was than in Android and the iPhone, but to the rest of us it really doesn’t look all that different.
Additionally, AT&T has been helping out Microsoft with the new operating system. Since it has lost iPhone exclusivity, the carrier latched onto Windows Phone 7 for its next novelty, and currently offers more WP7 devices than any other service provider.
Sullivan noted that in a survey, 93% of Windows Phone 7 customers said they were “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with their purchase.
