100% this was the problem. I think Microsoft just expected people to buy these things like hotcakes when they came out. So there was no real advertising push. The problem at the time though was everyone was in love with Apple or Android.
That's when the union of Nokia and WP was formed. The problem there was it takes time to completely change the direction your company is going. I can only imagine the internal turmoil within Nokia during the change (and probably still happening). Things are coming together nicely now though.
I expect to only see better things from Microsoft and all of it's partners.
I dunno, I think it only gets harder from here. iOS and Android now control 82% of the market. Now, if WP7 gets the remaining 18% then they're in great shape in third place. But they probably won't get all of it, realistically.
That means that WP7 has to lure Android and iOS users away, but the problem is that there's a kind of path dependency to phone ownership that makes the opportunity costs of switching much higher. So as Android and iOS sell more phones it becomes increasingly difficult to lure existing users away, and new users look around at the mobile landscape, and make decisions based on what they see--and they don't really see WP7. Until now, but nowhere near the same level.
For WP7 to succeed they need to take a huge slice out of RIM and Symbian, but so far that hasn't happened. And they also need to take a slice out of dissatisfied iOS/Android users, and while that could happen, and I think it will to some degree, I think Android has seriously stepped up its game with ICS and the new round of hardware coming out of HTC and Samsung.
I think the real wild card here though is an iPhone 5 with LTE. I think Android has been able to succeed because of hardware, not because of software. An iPhone 5 with a 4" screen and LTE could obliterate Android and WP8, which is a scary thought. Android stole a march on Apple with LTE coming out a full year and half earlier, but that advantage might not last. The success of an iPhone 5 will come at the expense of everybody else's marketshare, and I think could cripple WP8.
The fall is going to be nothing but gushing over the iPhone 5, it's going to be hard for Microsoft to get in a word edgewise. This, I would guess, is part of the reason why HTC and Samsung have both gotten their high-end devices out for summer. To beat the iPhone 5 to the market in hopes that it doesn't suck all the oxygen out of the market.