Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer used the keynote speech at the 2011 Worldwide Partner Conference to admit that Windows Phone 7 is still "very small."

While he hailed Windows and Office a success, he was restrained in describing how Windows Phone 7 had performed:

"In a year, we've gone from very small to ... very small."

Ballmer was more upbeat about the future:

"You will see a lot of progress in the market going forward."

Microsoft has been very cagey about how well Windows Phone has done (we've had all sort of numbers from Microsoft, but no actual sales figures). Then there was the whole update debacle that left some handsets bricked. Even offering a Windows Phone 7 handset for $0.01 hasn't seemed to have helped boost user share.

The biggest ray of hope for Windows Phone is Microsoft's deal with Nokia to become a major OEM for the brand. In exchange for the company's loyalty, Microsoft is allowing Nokia to customize the Windows Phone OS. It seems that Nokia's first Windows Phone handset will be similar to its N9 flagship handset.

Where do you think Windows Phone will be in a year?

More from Microsoft Partner Conference:

Windows 8 will run on all Windows 7 PCs (and Vista PCs too)

Microsoft: 400 million Windows 7 and 100 million Office 2010 licenses sold

Microsoft makes it official: New beta of Windows Intune 2.0 available

Third test build of Microsoft's SQL Server 'Denali' expected this week

What's on Steve Ballmer's Microsoft priority list now?

Microsoft to deliver Surface 2.0 software developer kit on July 12

Why Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is so bullish on Bing