The leading global digital technology firm, Microsoft has been forced to withdraw the first update for its flagship Windows Phone 7 software following its reportedly crashing the handsets.

The owners of those mobile phones found their handsets turned off or failing to start up after their having downloaded the programme. The issues seem to have being confined to consumers of Samsung mobile phones so far, according to the claims of Microsoft.

The error sparked a barrage of criticism on forums and blogs with a number of affected users complaining that their handsets had been bricked or reduced to a costly but useless dud.

More embarrasment was in store for Microsoft as it struggled to gain a foot hold in the profitable smartphone market, against more powerful rivals such as Google's Android and Apple's iPhone. The backlash also happens against a backdrop of more averrations with the products of Microsoft, particularly its virus-stricken Internet Explorer web browser.

Microsoft made it clear in a statement that they have located a technical problem with the Windows Phone update process, which impacted a small number of handsets. The company added that they have temporily withdrawn the latest update of the software for Samsung smartphones with a view to rectify the problem and at the earliest would be redistributing the update.

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