Microsoft's claims of a diverse Windows Mobile ecosystem may have been undermined by one of its own partners if statements made at the company's Mobile World Congress presentation are accurate. Following remarks by Microsoft Mobile Communications Senior VP Andy Lees that a total of over 50 million Windows Mobile devices have been sold spread across 50 partners and the software's entire history, HTC chief Peter Chou has mentioned that about 40 million HTC-made Windows Mobile phones have sold since the company was founded, leaving about 80 percent of all Windows Mobile phones as HTC-made.

The figure would in return leave just 10 million phone sales to be split between the other companies that have made Windows Mobile devices, such as LG, Motorola, Palm and Samsung. HTC has often been contracted to make cellphones for other companies but has sometimes only been asked to disguise its own name to promote a carrier, such as with Verizon's XV6900.

If accurate, the statistic is a blow to Microsoft's publicized belief in licensing Windows Mobile as it does Windows on the desktop, as it shows only one company ultimately having any significant results from the business model. Competitors like Apple and RIM only allow their operating systems to be used on their own devices but are selling devices at an overall faster rate than the Windows Mobile market. About 13.3 million iPhones are estimated to have shipped in 2008 alone, or more than a quarter of Microsoft's lifetime sales.