Windows Phone has gone from “very small to very small”

CEO Steve Ballmer has admitted Windows Phone hasn’t seen phenomenal growth, as he revealed a “report card” on Microsoft’s business.

Speaking at the Worldwide Partner Conference, Ballmer discussed Microsoft’s mobile strategy and gave details of sales of Windows, Office and more.

Windows Phone 7 launched last year, with phones released by several leading manufacturers, but a deal with Nokia has yet to deliver any handsets.

Phones, we’ve gone from very small to very small, but it’s been a heck of a year

“Phones, we’ve gone from very small to very small, but it’s been a heck of a year,” Ballmer said. “And you’re going to see a lot of progress in that market competitively as we move forward.”

Ballmer said Microsoft sold “millions of phones” in the past year, and had seen 20,000 apps developed for its operating system. “It’s certainly a very busy, active, competitive market. We’ve got a lot of work to do to break through.”

He cited the deal with Nokia as proof that Windows Phone was a success. “Nokia, who had a choice this year to bet on themselves, to bet on Android, or to bet on Windows Phone said for their bet the company strategy, they’re going with Windows Phone,” he said.

“They saw our roadmaps. They saw what we’ve done. They saw what we’re planning on doing. They’re pushing us,” he said. “They’re pushing us to go broader geographically with Windows Phone. They’re pushing us to hit new price points with Windows Phone. But, they believe.”

Rest of Microsoft

Ballmer said Bing, Windows Server and Microsoft’s cloud product Azure had all posted gains, while Windows and Office continued to see solid sales.

“Windows, we’re selling a lot of Windows, and we’ve got a lot of competition in the Windows business,” he added, saying 350 million PCs with the OS were sold in the past year. “That might compare with numbers from other guys that are in the 20 million range. Now, 20 is too much, but 350, last time I checked, is a lot more than 20.”

He said Microsoft sold 100 million Office licences since the launch of 2010, and touted the success of newly arrived Office 365.

“In just two weeks, we’ve had over 50,000 businesses around the world trial Office 365, that’s about one business every 25 seconds,” he said.

“Office and Office 365, basically the other guys have yet to really show up,” he added.