Windows Phone 7 goes on sale!

There is a nice info about Windows Phone 7 smartphones went on sale today at AT&T and T-Mobile retailers in the U.S., although customers are not exactly breaking down doors to buy them in the early going.

Analysts said they expect WP7 sales to build slowly as the holidays approach, especially with a record $500 million TV advertising campaign for the devices.

Neither carrier responded to a request for comment on WP7 sales midday Monday. However, one sales representative for the AT&T store in Framingham, Mass., said a reporter's phone call at about noon today was the first inquiry about WP7 phones at all.

Verizon Wireless, the largest U.S. wireless carrier, expects to sell WP7 phones next year, a spokeswoman confirmed.

Analysts said they don't expect WP7 phone sales to ever have the major buzz that accompanies iPhone first-day sales, where hundreds of buyers line up outside of major Apple stores.

Analyst Jack Gold of J.Gold Associates said it will be interesting to watch reaction to WP7 sales. Microsoft marked the first day of sales with a Windows Phone developer blog update by Todd Brix, senior director of Windows Phone Marketplace. Brix said WP7 customers will have access to nearly 2,000 apps and games in the marketplace, double the 1,000-apps goal that Microsoft set in early October.

So far, sales figures for the first batch of Windows Phone 7 smartphones from AT&T and T-Mobile have been scarce, though numbers could start leaking out over the weekend or by Monday.

Apple has typically set the bar for strong launches, with 250,000 units sold the first weekend when the first iPhone went on sale in July 2007; 1.6 million iPhone 3GS units were sold in its first week in June 2009.

With multiple Windows Phone 7 launches this week, it's hard to make an apples-to-apples comparison with other smartphone debuts.

If not, expect the company to remain coy, making general statements about being "pleased" with results and a strong demand for its new phones.