In what apparently the first indication that Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 (WP7) smartphones might be proving to be an early disappointment, a recent statement by LG Electronics' marketing strategy and planning team director James Choi hinted that the WP7 launch has been `underwhelming.'

According to an interview published by Pocket-lint on January 14, Choi - talking about the WP7 platform - told the blog: "From an industry perspective we had a high expectation, but from a consumer point of view the visibility is less than we expected."

With LG electronics - along with Dell, HTC, and Samsung - being one of the initial manufacturers of the WP7-based handsets, Choi said that, in his opinion, the growth of the WP7 platform is presently limited by the fact that its hardware requirements are notably "high tier."

However, adding that the growth will be in the offing once "mid-tier to low tier" WP7 handsets start hitting the markets, Choi also said that LG is hopeful that WP7 platform "has a strong potential even though the first push wasn't what everyone expected."

Meanwhile, Microsoft executives claimed at the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this month that nearly 1.5 million WP7 handsets had been sold to retailers by manufacturers in the first few weeks of the platform's release. In addition, Microsoft is working on a series of WP7 updates that will enhance the platform's performance with the addition of new features like cut-and-paste and tweak apps.