Windows Phone 7 devices aren't completely "catastrophic"

For a seven-month-old platform, sales of Windows Phone 7 devices aren't completely "catastrophic" as one Russian blogger put it.

Though it only has 3.6 percent of the global smartphone compared to 36 percent and 16.8 percent for Android and iOS, according to first recent figures from Gartner, Microsoft's mobile operating system isn't doing much worse than the latter two when they first launched. Not only was Android a perceived failure in its earliest days, it took an entire year for it to capture 3.5 percent of the global market. And after its first three months on the market, Apple's iPhone held just 3.2 percent.

But could Windows Phone be doing a lot better? One Windows enthusiast thinks WP7 sales are being killed off at the "last mile"—by retail salesmen themselves. As such, he has begun collecting anecdotal evidence in a live OneNote document of poor retail sales experiences, which he plans to present to Microsoft.

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Conspiracy Theories
According to Robert McLaws (right), a senior developer at Gibraltar Software, WP7 sales face retail hurdles like Android-pushing salespersons, unattractive Windows Phone displays, employee confusion between WP7 and Windows Mobile 6.5, and a general lack of enthusiasm for the product are deterring first-time WP7 users.

Smelling a conspiracy theory, I posed as a customer to do some mystery shopping of my own. Click on the link at the bottom of the page for those experiences.

"I'd been watching the Windows Phone 7 developer forums for some time and noticed there was a disconnect between how enthusiastic the carriers were about Windows Phone, and how the phones were actually being sold. Overall my experience at stores were terrible," McLaws said.

For instance at an AT&T reseller in Tallahassee, FL, he said he asked about a WP7 device but was steered by the salesperson to look at the latest Android device instead.

And McLaws isn't the only one with sour WP7 retail experiences. Over at the Verizon Wireless Community forum, a disgruntled user wrote, "About a week ago I went into a Verizon store just to see what was there and one of their reps asked me what phone I was interested in. I calmly replied that I was waiting for Windows Phone 7 and was basically questioned why I didn't want to just go with Android since that's where the market is going. I had to bite my tongue. Android ≠ Windows Phone 7."

A WPCentral member wrote, "One thing I noticed at my local Best Buy store (probably the case elsewhere too), all the WP7 phones on display, the ones you can touch and look at up close, were mock-ups. Which is a ridiculous way to sell a new product."

What gives? McLaws suspects that carriers offer better incentives or commission to salespersons to sell Android phones. "Since carriers don't have to pay as a high a fee to license Android, they can afford to pay more commission," he said.

The Carriers Respond

None of the carriers would comment on McLaws' theory directly, and instead suggest that their hands are tied: they sell what customers want, and right now most customers want an Android or an iPhone.

"Our sales associates sell the device that is best going to meet the needs of the customer," said Kristin Wallace, corporate communications manager at Sprint. "There is no differentiation between devices."

Verizon's Brenda Rainey wouldn't comment on how store salespersons are incentivized, but said, "Keep in mind that we want customers to walk out of our store or order the device online that best fits their needs. Our incentive is their satisfaction or customers will bring the phones back.

"Training is an important part of our process to make sure customers get the right device so the first question a store representative should ask a customer is how they plan to use the phone. To be able to guide the customer, the representatives have to have the training."

Anna Friedges of T-Mobile said, "T-Mobile looks forward to our continued partnership with Microsoft and support of Windows Phone 7. However, T-Mobile does not comment or speculate on any current or potential future business strategies."

AT&T declined to comment, but last Thursday AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega, speaking at the All Things D D9 conference in Rancho Palos Verde, Calif., said, "We already have Windows Phone 7 in our lineup. We actually like that software very, very much. It hasn't sold as well as Microsoft or us would want it to, but I think having the Nokia hardware capability with the Microsoft software capability is a really good combination. They have to prove it by bringing some great devices to market. But I would love to have a great Nokia device with Microsoft Windows Phone 7."

It was actually this statement that prompted McLaws to go public with his document.

"I thought the AT&T CEO's comment was full of crap."

"He says he wishes Windows Phone 7 devices were selling better? No you don't. Because if you did, you'd be playing more ads, featuring it on the website, and offering more incentives to buy it."

A Microsoft spokeswoman only had this to say, "There are a lot of reasons to buy a Windows Phone, and we remain focused on adding even more to delight current customers and entice future customers."

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