Is interest in Windows Phone waning?

I hate to say it, I really do, but interest in Windows Phone seems to be waning.

Its been an interesting ride for Windows Phone so far but the ride is slowing down.  When Microsoft first introduced the platform most liked the UI. Even some of Microsoft's harshest critics were surprised at how good this mobile OS is.  But just as critical acclaim for a movie doesn't always translate to a bigger box office, Windows Phone hasn't been the runaway success some hoped for.

Its highly possible Microsoft feels they are on track with sales expectations but I doubt it.  Recently reported sales were 1.5 million units to the channel, which doesn't mean they were actually bought by end users.  Considering the number of carriers that sell Windows Phone those aren't impressive numbers.

Whatever the reason, there had still been a lot of positive things written about Windows Phone and for good reason.  It really is a great mobile OS that is very useful today but certainly needs to mature.  The awful truth though is that Windows Phone continues to be less on consumer's minds than other platforms.  Feel free to disagree, but its the truth.  I'm certainly not saying that Windows Phone is any less useful or compelling but the novelty (or honeymoon phase) has passed.  Even while the Marketplace continues to grow there is less press and less buzz about it all the time.  Don't get me wrong - the growth of the marketplace has been great - but is its continued growth more about inertia from launch?

Perhaps the world is waiting for the promised update that should be coming sometime soon (fingers crossed), but I don't think that's really the case.  Microsoft has had to overcome the stigma left from Windows Mobile (justified or not), which may be proving to be a larger and longer task than they thought.  Changing opinion is one thing but getting a mass of users to actually prefer Windows Phone over the competition is not going to be easy or instantaneous.  Microsoft is going to need to address user concerns first to make their mobile OS everything it should be, at the very least.  But to win the masses Microsoft is going to need to make Windows Phone clearly better than the competition.  They know this but will they DO it?  We all know they have the resources but that's still a very large ship to turn.

Hey, obviously I am a fan of Windows Phone but that means I am even more keen to see Microsoft step up.  To get the buzz happening again we NEED this promised update as a starter and it needs to be good!  From there we need to see the platform become just as capable as anything the competition has while maintaining its nimbleness.  Sound off in the comments!