The 8th was meant to be a momentous day for both consumers and Microsoft, as that was the official launch day of their Windows Phone 7 devices to carries across North America. Many people are reporting all across the web, especially on twitter, about how they have been on a mad hunt to get their paws on a windows phone 7 handset and the story is always the same; they are sold out.
Thestreet reports that 40,000 units have been sold, and it is meagre compared to what Microsoft was expecting, which is a goal of 3.5 million units sold in Q4. Now whether the low sales is relative to the lack of stock carriers are getting may only be speculation. Multiple units, especially the Samsung handset, having been getting very positive reviews and the buzz only seems to be mounting for the fresh new phones.
Canada however, was even less lucky than its neighbours to the south as many people rushed to their local Rogers, Bell and Telus outlets to get first dibs, only to find out they had received no stock what-so-ever. Customers were told to check back in a couple of weeks. Very few employees where little more than aware of the phones existence.
I am not sure whether it is the Microsoft not supplying the manufacturers of the phones with enough information regarding demand, or if they are just playing it safe to save themselves from an overstock situation; but I will say this isn’t likely to help them as much as the Wii’s limited supply helped Nintendo.
I personally can not wait to get my hands on any version of the operating system and see how it runs for myself, but since I am in Canada it will have to wait.
