Windows Phone 7 Phones Nobody

Well, the latest statistics are in, and it’s not looking all that good for Windows Phone 7.

Comscore advises that Microsoft’s share of the mobile phone space has now dropped, from 7.5% for the three months to March, to just 5.8% as at the end of June.

You may recall that when Microsoft announced this new operating system, over a year ago, we were somewhat skeptical as to whether it might have been too little, and way too late.

Just under a year ago I had my first hands-on experience with some actual hardware, and while it was very obvious that Microsoft were trying their hardest to push this as the best thing since sliced bread, I still had my reservations.

The first production versions of the hardware came, but some primary features were absent, and many people also reported crashes and a lack of general reliability. All of this is supposed to be fixed with the upcoming release of the Mango update, but there are a couple of serious questions that now need to be answered.

First of all, will Mango be enough to save Phone 7?

Second, how long will manufacturers like HTC, Nokia and Samsung be willing to invest their money in a platform that’s not paying its way? In this realm, one must wonder at what sort of subsidies Microsoft may be paying to the manufacturers in order to keep this OS alive.

But finally, does anyone, beyond Microsoft, really care?