According to Michel van der Bel, COO of the Greater China region at Microsoft, sales of Windows Phones have accounted for 7% in China's smartphone segment recently, compared to a 6% share for Apple's iPhones.<p>

The strong sales enjoyed by Lumia phones at present are typical short-term results for the newly launched model, and it remains to be seen whether the sales momentum will continue, commented industry sources.<p>

Given that sales of iPhones totaled over five million units in China in the first quarter of 2012, it would be difficult for Windows Phone models to yield the same results in a quarter, the sources commented.

"It's not something people would explicitly ask for," Ahtisaari says. "But when given it, it's deeply beneficial. Glanceability has to do with eye contact and allowing people to be present for each other [in conversation]." The ability to interpret things at a glance, he says, is "hard-wired into us as organisms; it's just the way we are".