Microsoft says it believes the Windows Phone platform will hit 100 million sales a year in the future, despite a decidedly unspectacular first year of existence. And the secret ingredient it's pinning its hopes on? Nokia, of course.

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Nokia's first Windows Phone is expected to be announced sometime before the end of the year, and while the hopes of the Nokia faithful are understandably quite high, Microsoft is pretty confident too, it turns out.

“We have dreams and aspirations that we can get to 100 million units per year with that single deal,” Microsoft’s Chief Operating Officer Kevin Turner said at the company's Worldwide Partner Conference last week.

That “single deal” is of course the deal with Nokia, a relationship that in time will help push Windows Phone's international appeal significantly, while also opening up the US market to Nokia.

It's a deal we're getting increasingly excited about, and we can't wait to see that first Nokia Windows Phone in the flesh.