T-Mobile CEO "quite pleased" with Windows Phone sales

By Daniel Rubino
last updated

File this under "vague but encouraging". T-Mobile's CEO Philipp Humm gave an interview with the Seattle Times where he talked about the transitions that company is going through including their future plans.

Humm was asked about Microsoft and Windows Phone in particular and while no firm numbers or details were given, the message was at least positive:

Q: T-Mobile made a commitment to push Windows Phone this year. How is that working out?A: I think we have a very good relationship with Microsoft, and we discovered that, in particular, for customers who are new to smartphones, they really enjoy the simplicity of the Microsoft [user interface], so they like the design and the ease of it.Q: Are Windows phones selling as well as you hoped?A: We are so far quite pleased and I think Microsoft, if you talk to them, [is] quite pleased with T-Mobile.

Indeed, T-Mobile has been the 2nd most important carrier in the US for Windows Phone. They launched with the popular HD7, had the Dell Venue Pro and recently exclusively acquired the HTC Radar (review) and Nokia Lumia 710 (review). While those latter two phones won't woo those who want a high-end, large screen device, both phones have exceptionally high user satisfaction ratings (and they're amongst our favorite devices here at Windows Phone Central).

The comments above, while vague, do echo what Nokia CEO Stephen Elop noted back in Mobile World Congress. There in regards to the T-Mobile Lumia 710, Elop noted that sales were "exceeding expectations" which we'll take as a positive sign as well. (Currently, the Lumia 710 is #4 under best-selling smartphones on T-Mobile, while the Radar is #19.  Amazon Wireless has the Luma 710 at #6 and Radar at #7, respectively.)

Still, Windows Phone has a long away ahead and it's not clear that non-flagship devices like the Lumia 710 and HTC Radar can turn T-Mobile into the "must have" carrier for Windows Phone. Here's to hoping that T-Mobile still has a few Windows Phone tricks up their sleeve.

Source: Seattle Times

Daniel Rubino
Daniel Rubino
Editor-in-chief

Daniel Rubino is the Editor-in-chief of Windows Central, head reviewer, podcast co-host, and analyst. He has been covering Microsoft since 2007 when this site was called WMExperts (and later Windows Phone Central). His interests include Windows, laptops, next-gen computing, and for some reason, watches. Before all this tech stuff, he worked on a Ph.D. in linguistics, watched people sleep (for medical purposes!), and ran the projectors at movie theaters because it was fun.

48 Comments
  • Am I seeing things or was the original title of the article "T-Mobile US....?"
  • yeah, live edit ;-)
  • Heres to hoping my HD2 is still alive by the time they get a phone worth upgrading to.
  • I have a radar and 710 on TMobile and hope that they snag a flagship Apollo device in the future.
  • Since a little while before the launch of the 900 I haven't seen a single commercial from Nokia for the 710, from T-Mobile I have seen very very few since. Since then they have launched the One S and that is what they have been pushing.
  • I don't think the Lumia 710 supports 42Mbps HSPA+ which is what T-Mobile has been recently touting in it's new line of ads.
  • It actually does.
  • Pretty sure the 710 does the 21 not 42
  • Noticed the same thing. 710 were all over the place at one point. But carriers usually hype whatever phone is their newest.
  • T-Mobile had an agreement with Nokia at the begining of the year, which stated that for the first quarter they were going to promote the Nokia Lumia 710. As we know first quarter passed already;therefore, there is more heavy advertisement from T-Mobile to the Lumia 710. The good thing about this first quarter is that sales were strong and that T-Mobile made good profits, which encourage them to continue to support WP in the future.
  • They need to compete with AT&T's HTC One X and the One S is the only T-Mobile phone that can compete with it. Not saying that the Lumia 710 is an awful device or is not worth to get, but specwise the One S is the only one that can compete with the One X. Softwarewise the Lumia 710 and 900 are the winners by far.
  • Yes they do, but what can you do when the specs are given by MS? You can't gram HDMI out, higher reso screens or innovative cameras like on 808 to that old qualcomm platform, or it's many of the things WP doesn't support yet, like NFC, that all oter Symbian phones have had for year or two.
  • Wrong in the NFC point. Lumia 610 has NFC built in...
  • MS only dictates MINIMUM specs. While it's true that the OS doesn't currently support multicore processors or different resolutions, MS has put no limitations on an OEM putting in, say, a high-mp count camera, more than 16gb storage, a more powerful single core CPU, more RAM, a more powerful GPU, etc. The OEMs just aren't willing to put more expensive tech into a device that might not sell because people don't know the OS.
  • But there were a lot of commercials for it especially when T-Mo was really pushing their 4G network
  • I hope tmobile get a high end phones like Lumia 900 or Titan II. My next upgrade will be Windows Phone 8 and i don't want a mid range phone.
  • My sentiments exactly.
     
    I'm glad T-Mo has a couple Nokia WP phones, but they aren't the phones I'm looking for. I cannot justify "upgrading" to a mid-range phone that has half the storage and a smaller screen than my HD7.
  • The only thing I haven't change tmobile is because of their pricing, you get a lot for you money.
  • I did...why? 4G. At least the equivalent as far as T-Mobile is concerned...my HD7 was getting hung up on the throttle. =/
  • I still remember the Nokia lumia 710 commercial but as of now very happy with my HTC radar 4g hopefully tmobile gets the lumia 800 or 900 or another great windows phone
  • Still sporting my HD7 due to T-Mobiles lack of a better WP device then the 2 they currently offer.  Looks like I won't be upgrading until the HD8 comes out in the fall.
  • Really? After my experience with my HD7 the only HD-anything I'll be buying is TVs. Piss-poor battery life, signal issues, necessary battery pulls... All the drawbacks of Android with out the "benefits".
  • You really should just have had them replace it, you were one of the FEW. few people with 7 issues. One stupid woman was on Twitter dissing the HELL outta my phone I was SO mad! >_
  • Agreed
  • Did anyone else picture the Tmo CEO in a large leather office chair, elbows on desk, and steepled fingers saying, "I'm quite pleased with this. . . . Quite pleased indeed. . . . "
     
    lol
  • "excellent"
  • Lol
  • The Radar was nice but I'm enjoying the 900 on at&t. Need to step up their game and not just pump out tons of androids.
  • Well get the damn lumia 900
  • Nice to hear this. My coworker upgraded from Android to the Radar and likes it very much!
  • My friend also got a Radar after his Android took a dump on him and he is very pleased. He told me his battery lasted three days in a single charge with data and wifi turned off, and his buddies has an Android phones and needed to carry an extra battery to survive a day.
  • Hope they get a titan sized wp8 device
  • What time will you be home?
  • I think the 710 is a very versatile handset in terms of price and what it offers (a good 2nd gen WP experience). Compared to many Androids at that price, you can't go wrong with the 710. In terms of performance and quality, I'd say the Galaxy W is the Lumia 710's toughest competition at that price point, especially with the FFC the Galaxy sports.  
  • I love my 710 be having it since the release and im typing on it right now.. Its a wonderful device and have features that my blackberry curve didn't have.. I am very please with my decision.. All I need is a OS update for the dropping keyboard and the hotspot feature and I will be good to go.. #lumialove
  • Wow, the 710 must be much nicer. I do like the design of the htc radar though. Too bad htc doesn't promote their wp7 devices.
  • More flap jap -jibber jaw. Don't tell me sales are great. Show me buy offering be a high end phone, then we will talk.
  • I personally didn't like the Nokia 710 specially the cam it took ugly pics but I hope to see the lumia 900 on t mobile with a higher pix cam than the one on the at&t
  • They better get a high end Apollo phone or I'll be pissed. My upgrade is in July, I'll wait until the end of the year if nothing shows up by then im switching to ATT
  • I spoke with a T-mo customer retention rep today and asked about up comming WinPhones and his exact words were "AT&T got the Lumia 900 but we are getting the next Generation Lumia in July" so the timing may be perfect for you if Apollo launches in June. It was enough to keep me from paying the $100  ETF for my two HD7 lines and going to AT&T for the Lumia 900.
  • Exciting (if true....)
  • Also I got the 710 for my 16 year old daughter, she loves it. Especially since all her friends are on android or ios. MS has to try to snag that young crowd
  • I am using an ulocked HTC Titan on the T-Mobile network until Apollo rolls out. I can't believe T-Mobile missed out on such a great device. MMS works and I can still browse the web on Edge which is decent enough for minor things like posting to Facebook and Twitter. Watching videos on the go is almost entirely impossible but I just wait til I get to work or home(wifi connections) to do that. I'm really hoping T-Mobile delivers BIG this fall.
  • AT&T got the HD7s after T-Mobile, T-Mo should get the TitanS for the S&G... =P
  • Funny enough I walked into T-mobile this weekend because I'm visiting the USA. Went to buy a sim card and their $2 per day prepaid plan. When asking about the windows phone I was told that the 710 sucks. Didn't get into it with him and for good reason because I was this close to a parking ticket LOL.
  • Still rockin my OG Focus still smooth as ever lol, holding out for Apollo
  • Im done with tmo.. Im cancelling my lines.. Im getting 2lumias on amazon..
  • Fine, go ahead and dump on TMo. This carrier was never known for having high end phones with the exception of Android devices. It's known for low to mid-range evrything else. I'm still with them since Voicestream because with money I'm saving for not being a gearhead and a b--ch to AT&T, I can actually pay down my mortgage faster. BTW, I dig my 710. Even like the neutral colors from the camera.