By Stephen Schenck | January 7, 2012 1:45 AM
Now well-over a year since the platform debuted, Windows Phone is still spreading-out to reach new markets. Microsoft just shared details of the next phase of the Windows Phone global expansion with its developer community, advising them how this change will affect app sales and certification.
While these new markets aren’t yet open for end-users, so there’s no one buying apps just yet, Microsoft now allows developers to submit them for distribution in Argentina, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Peru, and the Philippines. We’ve been talking about the Windows Phone Chinese launch for some time now, as it presents Microsoft with a great opportunity to make some big gains in the size of its user base.
It’s good to hear about Microsoft’s plans for spreading the reach of Windows Phone, but these new markets could cause some headaches for developers. Due to governmental and social constraints being a tad more restrictive than in the majority of markets around the world, apps submitted for sale in China, Indonesia, and Malaysia impose new content guidelines. That could mean trouble for apps that reference alcohol, religions, or gambling situations. While developers can simply elect to not have their apps distributed in these nations, they’re going to have to manually define their intended markets; the “worldwide” sales option now includes these new, stricter rules for app submissions.
