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Microsoft CEO: Windows Phone 8 Sales to 'Ramp Quickly'

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Ballmer points to strong launch for Microsoft's latest operating system, Windows 8.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has acknowledged that Windows Phone remains "relatively small" in the smartphone market, but believes Windows 8 will boost sales imminently.

While Google's Android mobile platform and Apple's iPhone has dominated the smartphone market for years, Ballmer believes Microsoft's relationship with Nokia, Samsung and HTC will finally push sales for incoming Windows Phone 8 handsets.

"With the work we have done with Nokia, HTC, Samsung and others ... there is now an opportunity to create really a strong third participant in the smartphone market," he said in Tel Aviv at Microsoft's first Windows 8 launch outside the U.S. "We are still relatively small ... I expect the volumes on Windows Phone to really ramp quickly."

He stressed that Microsoft will continue to market and advertise (in the region of $1.5 billion) Windows 8, its Surface tablet and Windows Phone more than for it's done with previous products. Ballmer reiterated that Microsoft sold more than four million copies of Windows 8 during its launch weekend last week.

"The initial reaction to these products has been really really phenomenal ... And if you look at how people will get Windows 8, the truth of the matter is more people over time will get Windows 8 by buying a new computer than by upgrading old computers," Ballmer said, noting that a total of 400 million personal computers are sold each year.

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34 Comments Comment from the forums
  • rohitbaran 13 November 2012 08:12
    I was expecting Ballmer's photo for this article! Anyway, let's see how much good his prediction is this time.
    Reply
  • Shin-san 13 November 2012 08:21
    1. What's Ballmer supposed to say? "Our sales will drop like a boulder into the sea!"? 2. At least they have good advertising, although the little girl doing pony images to the Final Countdown was awesome. Just as long as they don't do anything weird like the Superman one
    Reply
  • sykozis 13 November 2012 08:29
    Considering how WP7 users got screwed....I doubt WP8 will "take off" because people will expect the exact same thing to happen again. I bought my WP7 phone under the assumption (based on statements made publicly by MS) that it would receive an upgrade to WP8....which they later backed out of. Had I known from the beginning that MS would change their minds, I'd have never bought the phone.
    Reply
  • jhansonxi 13 November 2012 08:36
    With the work we have done with Nokia, HTC, Samsung and others ... there is now an opportunity to create really a strong third participant in the smartphone market
    It may have been shortsighted to base such cooperation more on lawyers than engineers. I suppose we'll find out soon enough.
    Reply
  • wildkitten 13 November 2012 08:43
    sykozisConsidering how WP7 users got screwed....I doubt WP8 will "take off" because people will expect the exact same thing to happen again. I bought my WP7 phone under the assumption (based on statements made publicly by MS) that it would receive an upgrade to WP8....which they later backed out of. Had I known from the beginning that MS would change their minds, I'd have never bought the phone.And that is really no different than Android phones. How many people bought phones promising that they would get ICS and it never materialized, or any other version for that matter? Lots. Fact is, like it or not, only Apple pushes out a new version of their OS to every model. I think part of it is how Apple stands up to the carriers, which both Microsoft and Google should learn from, and the fact that Apple controls the hardware. There is no Samsung iPhone or HTC iPhone or Motorola iPhone.
    Reply
  • CaedenV 13 November 2012 08:48
    what? no crazy Balmer pic?

    Anywho, I am sold on wp8. Just waiting a few more weeks for reviewers and early adopters to find any fatal flaws in any of them before I make a decision.
    Wife will probably get the HTC8s
    I would like to have the Lumia 920... but as I will be on TMobile, it sounds like this is not an option, so my fallback is on the Sammy Ativ S, but if the camera is as weak as the SGS3 then I will probably go with the HTC 8X. I would go with the 8X by default except for that damn SD card support!

    For those who talk of WP7 users getting screwed I really don't know what you are talking about. When 7.5 was released we all knew that wp8 was going to come out in the same calander year, and anyone who spend more than 30min to research their purchase would have known that. Also, in spite of running an entirely different OS core than wp8, wp7 users will still get all of the new features that apply to the hardware available on a wp7 phone, and they will still get most of the apps available to wp8 users. They are still getting updates (in a much more timely fassion than some other phone OS companies provide...) and support, it is not like MS was playing dirty, or hiding the new release of wp8. In fact, the #1 reason people did not get one of the wp7.5 phones was simply because they knew wp8 was coming. If nothing else, wp8 sales should be good because poeple (like myself) are simply not having to wait, or hold our breath, on our purchase. I know some higher end phones will be coming out next year (quad core, 2GB of ram, SD card support on a high end phone, tmobile version of the lumia 920, etc.), but the ones released out the gate are good enough, and there will be no other major changes to the game for a good long while yet. The time is right as a customer to jump in.

    On the sales side I think we will see more push from retailers to sell wp8 devices over Android. The kickbacks are better than they were on wp7, the sales people know the customers are not going to get jilted by a new release, and MS cannot come under a lawsuit attack from Apple which makes wp8 a safer sale.

    In short, if MS screws this up, they only have themselves to blame! They literally have everything in their favor right now.
    Reply
  • extremepcs 13 November 2012 08:52
    I wonder how many of the 4 million Windows 8 sales were people actually going to the store and buying it / buying it online vs MS forcing tier 1 vendors like Dell, HP, and Lenovo to buy OEM copies to include with their new computers.
    Reply
  • dirgle 13 November 2012 09:11
    If anybody other than Balmer had said it, I might have believed it.
    Reply
  • tomfreak 13 November 2012 10:04
    extremepcsI wonder how many of the 4 million Windows 8 sales were people actually going to the store and buying it / buying it online vs MS forcing tier 1 vendors like Dell, HP, and Lenovo to buy OEM copies to include with their new computers.who cares, I have not buy any store stuff from my Ipad Apple store, I have not buy anything from Android app store too, I wont be buying in win8 store too. The free apps are good enough generally.
    Reply
  • Thomas Creel 13 November 2012 10:27
    I'm not buying it, my iPhone 5 isn't going anywhere.
    Reply