Over 1.5 Million Windows Phone 7 Devices “Sold,” WP7 Marketplace Ramping Faster Than Android

So did those Really? ads really pay off, or have most smart phone buyers just shrugged their shoulders at Windows Phone 7 and decided to snatch up an Android phone , iPhone or BlackBerry instead? According to Microsoft, Windows Phone 7 is off to a good start. Achim Berg, vice president of business and marketing for Windows Phones, says that he’s “pleased that phone manufacturers sold over 1.5 million phones to in the first six weeks, which helps build customer momentum and retail presence.” That’s nice, but Berg doesn’t provide real sales numbers that would tell us how many people are walking around enjoying Live Tiles and Xbox Live on their handsets.

During an interview with Microsoft’s own News Center, Berg said his expectations are “realistic for a new platform,” and he emphasized that the company is in it for the long run. But it looks like WP7 is gaining some momentum in the short term, at least when it comes to apps. According to IDC, the Windows Phone 7 Marketplace is ramping faster than Android. Microsoft’s store stocked 4,000 apps after two months, versus five months for Android. Analyst Al Hilwa says he wouldn’t be surprised to see WP7 to have the third largest app portfolio by next year. Still, given that Android has well over 100,000 apps now, and Apple stocks more than 300,000, Microsoft certainly has a tough hill to climb.

Ultimately, the number of apps Microsoft has in the Marketplace doesn’t matter nearly as much as many devices people are buying. And we just don’t know that yet.