Some 4.5 million Windows Mobile shipped during the year's first quarter, up 1.8 million year-over-year, according to IDG figures cited by Microsoft's top Windows Mobile executive, Andy Lees. Apple, meanwhile, sold only 1.8 million iPhones according to IDG's figures for the same quarter, Lees claimed.

Citing IDC figures, Lees said Microsoft sold 4.5 million Windows Mobile devices during the January-to-March quarter. Dismissing the hype about Apple's iPhone, Lees said the above number means Microsoft sold 1.8 million more Windows devices during the first quarter of 2008 than it did during the same quarter in 2007. In contrast, Apple only sold 1.7 million iPhones in all during the first quarter, he added.

A transcript of Andy Lees' keynote speech to the 2008 Worldwide Partner Conference is available from the Microsoft website, here. A webcast of the speech can be viewed from the company's "Digital WPC" site, here [requires Silverlight web browser plugin].

Meanwhile, an interview with Lees by author Arne Hess appears on the website the::unwired, here.

Source:→ WindowsForDevices.com