Windows Phone 7 became available for sale today (Oct. 21) in Europe, Australia and elsewhere (US sales are set to begin on Nov 8), and at least some Australian consumers had a hard time finding the new phone to buy, according to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald.
Only one phone out of the 5 to be sold in Australia is currently available from Australian telecommunications giant Telstra, the HTC Mozart, and that’s a bit hard to get. Other carriers have similar issues with stock, at least in Australia, although the article reports worldwide issues with supply, at least initially:
LG Australia’s Brad Reed said part of the reason for the limited stock was due to the fact that there were many other countries to cater to.
"While there is limited stock in the early weeks due to global demand we are confident this will be resolved as we move into November and December of this year," Reed said.
At least one Australian analyst linked the limited supply to “underwhelming” demand:
Telsyte research director and principal mobile analyst Foad Fadaghi said, regardless of supply issues, first day demand appeared "a little bit underwhelming".
"It’s not necessarily carrying the same sort of hype that the iPhone did on the first day or first week of sales and therefore maybe that’s reflected in the fact that we’re seeing a trickle of devices being made available," he said.
"I think that their demand will come more so through the Christmas period and into the new year as more stock becomes available."
We’re interested to see some early numbers, and of course a lack of supply won’t help Windows Phone 7 to make an early splash. If you live in one of the launch countries, did you go out looking for a new Windows Phone 7 today? Love to hear from our readers around the world on how early sales are going, either through word of mouth or local news coverage, keep us posted!